This year’s AES Conference in La Laguna had a special flavour, partly thanks to the emotional recognition of Beatriz González López-Valcárcel as an AES honorary member.
When we organised it months ago, we had in mind to do something relatively brief, but at the same time it would allow us to recognise with admiration and affection the different facets of Bea inside and outside the Association. Something that, like her, contained the right proportion of information, emotion and, in this case, surprise. In fact, Bea only knew the “when” (Thursday at noon) and that she had barely ten minutes for her intervention, but all the rest (the “what”, “how” and “who”) were unknown.
After a few words of introduction (link to my speech) Here), I gave way to a casual video (link to the video Here) which aimed to recapture Bea’s professional career and to give some personal touches, with contributions from around twenty of her colleagues. The most repeated terms when referring to the honouree were “energy”, “inspiration”, “wisdom”, “courage”, “generosity” and “passion”.
Vicente Ortún made the first intervention, in this case on Bea’s role in AES (link to the intervention Here). As he has accustomed us to, in an impeccable speech, Vicente was our “living memory” and brought the paper brochure of the AES Conference held in 1984, the first ones that Bea attended. He stressed that this was the year of change, with the emergence of the university in AES. He also recalled that Bea was in charge of organizing the Conference in 1988, a year before the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (ULPGC) was established, and that it was precisely Sunny Beerli, the designer of the green flower that is still in use today in the AES logo. There has not been a Conference in which Bea did not contribute. She has been president of AES, of SESPAS and of the section of Public health economics of the European Public Health Association. She has also been a scientific pioneer, and has published with co-authors from four continents, carrying the AES as her flag. She also stressed that the AES motto of “science, action and awareness” is hers, and that she is always proud to help, with or without Covid.
Suny Beerli, professor of economics at the ULPGC, gave us a powerful and entertaining speech (link to the speech Here) about Bea’s role at the University.She linked it with personal anecdotes that show Bea’s character and qualities. She spoke of her courage, when she parachuted alone to overcome her vertigo, of her commitment to just and collective causes, and of her exceptional leadership. She reviewed, for those who did not know, that Bea contributed to the creation of the ULPGC, and that she loves first times: she was the first to get a doctorate, the first to be a full professor, the first to be a full professor, the first to be a vice-chancellor, and now, of course, she is the first honorary member of AES. And she has achieved it all without working… she has achieved it because she loves what she does, having a passion for teaching, for learning and for making the University a better place. A true role model for those who aspire to make a difference.
Carolina Darias, current mayor of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and former Minister of Health, reflected on Bea’s role in society (link to the intervention Here). She referred to the selfless help that Bea and other experts provided to public administrations during the Covid-19 pandemic, in order to, in a difficult time, shed light on decision-making, first to avoid infections and then to optimize vaccination. As a person committed to her time and with a great social conscience, Bea has been recognized as an adopted daughter of the City of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and the island of Gran Canaria. In addition, Carolina referred to Bea’s important role in terms of analysis and optimization of human resources in the National Health System.
After the three interventions, Bea took the floor (link to the intervention) Here), with an emotional speech in which she looked back to remember the path she has taken and thanked the many people who have supported and accompanied her. She also looked ahead to talk about the future with optimism and excitement for what is yet to come.
As a grand finale, Anna García Altés presented Bea, on behalf of the AES community, with a heart-shaped stone sculpture, the work of Frenchman Jean-Michel Garino, as a token of the pride we feel for this outstanding woman whom we love, admire and recognize as an honor society.
