The Social Council of the Miguel Hernández University (UMH) of Elche will present the awards for the first edition of the UMH Institutional Chairs Awards tomorrow, Thursday, March 14. The ceremony will take place at 12:00 noon in the Auditorium of the Rectorate and Social Council building on the Elche campus. These awards aim to recognize the achievements of individuals and organizations that have distinguished themselves within the eight institutional chairs currently held by the University.

The event will be attended by the president of the UMH Social Council, Joaquín Pérez Vázquez; the rector of the UMH, Jesús Pastor Ciurana; the mayor of Elche, Carlos González Serna; and the delegate of the Valencian Government in Alicante, Esteban Vallejo, as well as various figures from the political, social, business, and cultural spheres of the province.

The recipients of this first edition of the awards are: the tailors and hairdressers of the Misteri d’Elx, awarded by the Misteri d’Elx Chair; the private collector Francisco Flores Cortés, owner of one of the best archives on the contemporary history of Elche, who has donated his entire collection to the Chair’s website, awarded by the Pedro Ibarra Chair; and the Valencian Youth Institute (IVAJ), awarded by the Miguel Hernández Chair, for its uninterrupted collaboration with the Chair in the organization and development of the Poet’s Trail since 1998. And María Teresa Ruiz-Navarro Ribalaygua, agricultural and environmental technician at the Elche Palm Grove Trust’s Administrative Office, received an award from the Elche Palm Grove Chair for her collaboration with the Chair in addressing the red palm weevil infestation.

In addition, the Elche Historical-Artistic Association of Settlers was awarded a prize from the Elche Lady of Elche Chair. The founder of the “Pedro Miralles” firm, Pedro Miralles Román, received an award from the “San Crispín” Footwear Industry Chair; the Napardi Foundation received an award from the UMH (Miguel Hernández University of Elche) Chair in Rwanda; and the Corfoll Collective received an award from the “Anneta Nicoli” Chair of Artistic Studies.

The Historical-Artistic Association of the People of Elche aims to disseminate the classical cultures that passed through the Spanish Levant in a didactic and educational way, through historical reenactments. The Napardi Foundation seeks to help and assist people in need and lacking economic resources and collaborates with the UMH Chair in Rwanda at the Nemba Children’s School in Rwanda, so that its students receive breakfast and lunch on school days. The Corfoll Collective works to promote cultural, ecological, social, traditional, and scientific values ​​from a critical and constructive perspective.

During the awards ceremony The awards ceremony is scheduled to feature a performance by José Manuel Más, a tenor from Crevillent and one of the most promising young opera singers in Spain, as well as a finalist on the television program THE VOICE.

Institutional Chairs are those created to contribute to the generation and dissemination of knowledge in specialized fields with broad social impact and of interest to the University. Their activities may include training, research and development, and/or outreach.