Marie-Jo Thiel


Marie-Jo Thiel is a French ethics academic. She is the director of the Centre européen d’enseignement et de recherche en éthique in Strasbourg. She is a university professor at Strasbourg; her primary assignment is at the faculty of Catholic Theology, Strasbourg, France.
She has a PhD in Medicine and in Catholic Theology. As a medical doctor and theologian, Thiel is particularly interested in bioethical research, theological and social ethics. Since 10 January 2011 she has been a member of the European Group on Ethics and New Technologies. She was nominated for this position by the European Commission. She teaches and writes in English, German and French languages in Universities in France, the USA, Canada and Germany.
Publisher of many works in ethics, Thiel's works include books and articles in referred international journals. She has also supervised a number of researches. Notably, she was the editor of the award winning book: Où va la médecine? Sens des représentations et pratiques médicales, Presses Universitaires de Strasbourg, 2003. She is the convener of the Journées internationales d’ethique de Strasbourg, the fifth edition of which was held in April 2013. CEERE, which she has directed since its inception in 2005, was awarded in 2008 the first prize in the teaching of ethics in France.

Biography

Thiel was born on 7 May 1957 at Sarralbe in France. She studied medicine at the University of Strasbourg and became an interne at Nancy in 1980. She obtained her Ph.D in medicine in 1983. She subsequently took up the study of Catholic theology culminating in her thesis on "the Status of the Human Embryo" in 1987. After her defense of her thesis was judged "tres honorable" by the jury, she began to teach ethics and bioethics at the University of Metz and at the Seminary at Nancy. While a lecturer, she undertook studies for and obtained a university degree of the 3rd cycle in European Health Policies. In 1998 she defended her thesis for her HDR on the theme: "The Assets of Systematic Ethics". This work would define the evolution of Thiel’s researches and academic career.

Academic career

Appointed as a university professor at the Faculty of Catholic Theology of Strasbourg in 1999, she immediately created the interdisciplinary research group "Bioethics and Society" which assembled researchers from different disciplines. This research would be the precursor of what has become the European Centre for the Study and Research in Ethics. Since 2005, CEERE has been open for postgraduate studies in Ethics. The centre also has both French, and bilingual curricula for its masters and other research programmes. As the director of CEERE, Thiel is involved in the organization of different kinds of research. She is the editor of the CEERE newsletter and website, and the organizer of the biennial trilingual International Symposium in Ethics, Strasbourg. She teaches mainly in France, but also in the US, and Canada.
Her contacts and research activities in collaboration with Yale University in the USA led Thiel to begin a summer school on interdisciplinary European Ethics in the summer of 2013. The summer school drew 41 students from 22 countries and five continents around the world.

Awards and recognition

The Maurice Rapin Price in Medical Ethics (2003)

In November 2003, Thiel won the Maurice Rapin Prize in medical ethics for her direction of the book: Où va la médecine ? Sens des représentations et pratiques médicales.

Trophy for teaching ethics (2008)

Thiel won the first trophy for teaching ethics in France in 2008 for her accomplishments with and through CEERE. This trophy was presented by the renowned French Doctor and Ethician, Prof. Didier Sicard, the honorary President of the French National Consultative Committee on the Ethics of Life Sciences and of Health.

Chevalier of the Legion of Honour (2013)

On 29 June 2013, Thiel was decorated with the insignia of Chevalier of the Legion of Honour. She was decorated at the Palais Universitaire of the University of Strasbourg, by M. Hubert Haenel, Member of the Constitutional Council for the award of the title of Legion of Honour. The ceremony was witnessed by Prof. Alain Beretz, the President of the University of Strasbourg. The legion of honour is a national award given in France to outstanding citizensand to foreigners who have contributed immensely to society. The order is in ranks and the President of the country is the overall grand commander of the order.

Fellowship and membership of academic/research groups

National