The Rector of the Miguel Hernández University (UMH) of Elche, Jesús T. Pastor Ciurana, presided over the awards ceremony for the 12th edition of the Social Council Awards in its various categories last Thursday, March 16. The event was held in the Auditorium of the Rectorate and Social Council building on the Elche campus.

The Student Award was given to Alejandro Moltó Borreguero, a Fine Arts student, and Aitana García Cantos, a Journalism graduate. This award recognizes the students’ academic achievements and also values ​​their academic performance, experience, professional skills, and the European dimension of their curriculum. The Research Award in the “Research Groups” category was granted to the “Calité Investigación” research group, which focuses its activity on defining objectives, quality commitments, and their evaluation, as well as promoting continuous improvement in work processes and results. The principal investigator is Virtudes Pérez Jover. Meanwhile, in the “Young Researchers” category, the award went to Professor Alfonso Ortega Giménez of the Department of Legal Science, who will receive €2,000 to cover expenses related to his line of research.

The Teaching Excellence Award was given to Professor María Asunción Amorós Marco of the Department of Applied Biology and Professor Pere Berbel Navarro of the Department of Histology and Anatomy at UMH. The Business and Institution Award this year went to Panama Jack, S.A. This award recognizes the established track record of this Elche-based company, a leader in the international footwear market and very active in the area of ​​corporate social responsibility, as well as its ongoing collaboration with UMH.

The Innovation in Management Award, aimed at the University’s administrative services and units, was granted this year to the UMH Quality Service for the “University Management Innovation Week” initiative. Its objective is to foster an innovative spirit among UMH administrative and service staff by encouraging the proposal of novel ideas that can be implemented and result in improved service delivery.

The Best University Athlete award was given to professional wheelchair athlete Santiago Sanz Quinto for his outstanding national and international career. Santiago Quinto has achieved 90 victories in international road races and 17 medals with the Spanish National Athletics Team. A graduate in Sports Science and with a Master’s degree in High-Performance Sports and Health, he is currently pursuing doctoral studies at the Miguel Hernández University of Elche (UMH) in the “Sport and Health” program.

Regarding the UMH Chairs, in the “Business and Patronage Chairs” category, the award went to the UMH Chair of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, directed by Francisco Javier Fernández Sánchez and funded by the Spanish Society of Allergology and Clinical Immunology, Alk-Abello S.A., BIAL-Industrial Farmacéutica S.A., Diater Laboratorios S.A., and Phadia Spain, S.L. Likewise, in the category of “UMH Institutional Chairs,” which recognizes the achievements of individuals or organizations within each of its chairs, the awardees were: José María Gutiérrez de la Torre, editor and scholar of Miguel Hernández’s work, for the Miguel Hernández Chair; Jesús Rueda Cuenca, MD, researcher, for the Pedro Ibarra Chair; the stagehands of the Misteri d’Elx (Mystery Play of Elche), for the Misteri d’Elx Chair; Francisco Serrano Valero, palm tree entrepreneur, for the Palmeral d’Elx Chair; the Royal Order of the Lady of Elche, for the Lady of Elche Chair; Toñi Pastor, creative director of the Cuplé footwear company, for the “San Crispín” Chair of the Elche Footwear Industry; and finally, the UMH volunteers in Rwanda, for the UMH Chair in Rwanda.

The Social Relevance Award was given to Juan Garrigós, president of Grupo Radio Elche, Elche’s oldest radio station, founded in 1934 and a true institution of Elche radio broadcasting. The UMH Social Council finally awarded the Non-Profit Organization prize to the Association of Women Affected by Breast Cancer of Elche and the Surrounding Area (AMACMEC), whose objective, since 1998, has been to provide support and information during the process and treatment of breast cancer to achieve the physical, psychological, and social well-being of those affected.