“The Jagiellonian University Day is a special day. For many years, we have been celebrating the anniversary of the University’s foundation to pay tribute to our ancestors and pass on what is most important in our tradition to future generations,” said the Rector of the Jagiellonian University Prof. Jacek Popiel on the 657th anniversary of the JU foundation. During the ceremony the title of JU Honorary Professor was awarded upon the eminent sociologist Prof. Piotr Sztompka.
In accordance with tradition, the anniversary celebrations began in Wawel Cathedral, where a delegation of JU authorities laid wreaths and flowers at the graves of the University’s founders: King Casimir the Great, Queen Jadwiga and King Vladislaus Jagiełło. Then a special session of the JU senate was held in Collegium Novum Assembly Hall. Due to the pandemic situation, it could be attended by a limited number of people.
The central part of the ceremony was the conferment of JU Honorary Professorship upon Prof. Piotr Sztompka, an eminent sociologist and a long-time professor of the JU Faculty of Philosophy. He has been the 19th recipient of this prestigious title in the University’s history. Prof. Sztompka was honoured for his outstanding contribution to sociology, his role in the strengthening the international position of the Jagiellonian University and the Polish science, his active participation in international academic life, educating several generations of students, supervising a number of excellent PhD thesis, upholding the highest standards of academic teaching, as well as living up to the role of a scholar as a role model and authority figure.
The laudatory address was delivered by the JU Vice-Rector for University Development Prof. Jarosław Górniak, who stressed that Prof. Sztompka is undoubtedly the greatest contemporary Polish sociologist and one of those extraordinary Polish scholars who are well-known and respected all over the world. Prof. Górniak also pointed out that Prof. Sztomka’s lectures, which he had personally attended as a student, have been characterised by the “unique ability to select key elements of theoretical conceptions and present them clearly and systematically, with great eloquence.
In his address, Prof. Piotr Sztompka expressed his gratitude for the bestowment of the title, which he recognised as “the crowning achievement of my career”. The ceremony concluded with his talk “Sociology as magistra vitae”, in which he listed and commented on over a dozen key thoughts from the area sociology and related fields which have especially strongly influenced him as an academic and a member of society.
