VUB awards honorary doctorate to British sports professor Andrew Jones

Some call him “Andy Beetroot”, because he was the first to demonstrate that beetroot juice positively affects submaximal performance during exercise. Professor of applied physiology Andrew (Andy) Jones received an honorary doctorate from the Vrije Universiteit Brussel on Thursday 20 April. The world-renowned expert on nutrition in endurance exercise gave a lecture on the sub two-hour marathon after the ceremony. Prof Jones recently participated in the Breaking2 Project, in which he coached Eliud Kipchoge to run the marathon in under two hours.

Exercise physiologist professor emeritus Romain Meeusen and professor Bart Roelands, leader of the Human Physiology and Sports Physiotherapy research group, had the honour of being proximi to Andrew Jones for the honorary doctorate he received on the recommendation of VUB’s Faculty of Physical Education and Physiotherapy. He was awarded it for his outstanding and pioneering work in the field of sports science and nutrition.

International recognition

Andrew Jones is professor of applied physiology at the University of Exeter in the UK. He enjoys international recognition as a leading researcher on, among other things, the causes of exercise intolerance in healthy people and people with disabilities, the kinetics of respiratory oxygen exchange during exercise, and exercise physiology and nutrition in endurance exercise.

He has won several scientific awards and has extensive experience in coaching elite athletes, including Paula Radcliffe.

Prof Jones received the honorary doctorate with a big smile. “I am so grateful to the Vrije Universiteit Brussel for awarding me a Doctor Honoris Causa for ground-breaking contributions in respiratory and exercise physiology. Of course, sharing such an accolade with luminaries like Nelson Mandela, Richard Dawkins, Jacques Cousteau and Eddy Merckx is clearly absurd.”

Honorary doctorates 2023

VUB will award five more honorary doctorates to pioneering scientists and socially engaged personalities on 1 June. They are secretary-general of Amnesty International Agnès Callamard, co-founder of Scholars at Risk Robert Quinn, top international law scholar Martti Koskenniemi, mathematician Efim Zelmanov and economist Mariana Mazzucato (who will not be present in person on 1 June). The theme is Science and Freedom.