The ex-secretary general of DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service) was conferred the degree of honor doctorate by the Universidad Pablo de Olavide in a formal ceremony celebrated last February 24th in Seville. Among the many in attendance were Reinhard Silberbeg, the German ambassador in Spain, Marius Rubiralta, the secretary general of universities, José Manuel Martínez Sierra, director of the Universidad.es Foundation, and the rector of Olavide, Juan Jiménez, who presided over the act.

Christian Bode, a doctor of law from the University of Bonn, was at the helm of DAAD during the last decade and previously held the post of secretary general of the West German Rector Conference, in addition to being the head of the Planning Group in the Federal Ministry of Education and Research and the vice president of the Association for Academic Cooperation (ACA). He is the author of numerous publications, primarily regarding international higher education policies.

Among other international titles, Doctor Bode is a Knight of the National Order of Merit (France), Officer of the Order of the British Empire, and in 2007, he received the prestigious Cassandra Pyle Award, presented annually by the Association of International Educators.

The Universidad.es Foundation and DAAD annually present the Julían Sanz Award with the goal of contributing to the development of a cultural dialogue and academic and scientific cooperation between Spain and Germany. The award is aimed at young researchers who have received a doctorate from either a Spanish or German university and have devoted themselves to their profession in the foreign country. Both agencies coordinate the attendance of European universities in international education fairs and the current scholarships for Latin American university officials to receive training courses from experts in Spanish and German universities.

Universidad.es is a public sector foundation that aims to promote the Spanish university system throughout the world. The foundation was set up by the Spanish government with the support of Spanish universities, the regional governments and other institutions. Universidad.es was formally constituted on 23 December 2008.