The ceremony is placed within the framework of the activities of the 20th Anniversary of the Miguel Hernández University of Elche.

José María Peiró (Torrent, 1950) is the president of the European Network of Full university professors of Organisations Psychology (ENOP) and was also the president of the International Association of Applied Psychology, also of the European Federation of Work and Organizational Psychology. Likewise, he directed many research projects funded by the National Science and Technology Committee of Spain of the Research Framework Programme of the European Union and of the Climate KIC of the European Institute of Technology.

Peiró has researched in areas like labour stress or occupational health, weather and organisational culture, socialisation of the youth when in organisations, labour insertion of young people and well-being and performance of the work.

He holds a Licenciatura (former Spanish title) in Philosophy and Literature (Universitat de Valencia, 1975), a doctorate in Philosophy and Literature, and a Licenciatura in Psychology (Complutense University of Madrid, 1976). He got a positive evaluation by the National Evaluation Committee because of his Research Activity of five six-year terms of research and by the Universitat de València because of six five-year terms of teaching.

He wrote several pieces about topics related to work and organisations. He has been Dean of the Faculty of Psychology of the Universitat de València (1993-1999), has been director of the Department of Psychobiology and Social Psychology of the Universitat de València (2002-2003), director of the Department of Basic Psychology, Methodology, Psychobiology and Social Psychology of the Universitat de València (1986-1993) and director of the Department of General Psychology (1983-1986).

He is also the director of the Master’s Degree in Human Resources Management of the Universitat de València and codirector of the MBA of the Universitat de València and the Anglia University (UK).