During the main part of the celebrations, the JU honoured two eminent scholars: Professor Lord Anthony Giddens and Professor Jerzy Wyrozumski.
On 12 May 1364 king Casimir the Great issued the foundation charter of a university in Kraków. The anniversary of this event is celebrated each year as the Jagiellonian University Day.
According to the tradition, the celebrations begun in the morning in Wawel Cathedral, where members of JU authorities laid flowers at the tombs of the university's founders and greatest benefactors: king Casimir the Great, queen Jadwiga, and king Vladislaus Jagiełło.
The main part of the celebrations took place in the historic building of Collegium Maius. At a special JU Senate session, the Jagiellonian University honoured two eminent scholars: Professor Lord Anthony Giddens and Professor Jerzy Wyrozumski.
In his opening address, the JU Rector prof. Wojciech Nowak quoted Leonardo da Vinci's words: "Wisdom is the daughter of experience" and wished such wisdom to the academic community and friends of the Jagiellonian University.
Prof. Anthony Giddens was awarded honorary doctorate for his remarkable contribution to defining the key challenges and problems of the modern world, related to the functioning of democratic political institution, economic and social transformations as well as consequences of the climate change, and his ideas how to solve them.
Anthony Giddens is widely recognised as one of the most influential modern sociologists. His 40 books have been translated into several dozen languages, and his works are amongst the most frequently cited in the area of humanities. He specialises in globalisation, politics and the influence of modernity on society and life of individuals. He is the creator of the structuration theory. During his career, he has been a lecturer at many universities, including the University of Cambridge, University of Leicester, and the London School of Economics, where he was the director in the years 1996–2003. Since 2004, he has sat in the House of Lords as Baron Giddens.
The laudatory speech was delivered by Prof. Piotr Sztompka of the JU Institute of Sociology. It was followed by the address by Prof. Giddens, who reflected upon the position of university in the fluid and decentralised world of today. He stressed that the fundamental role of university needs to be preserved, but its character is changing, mainly due to the development of modern technology.
The honorary degree conferment ceremony was followed by the presentation of the gold medal "Plus ratio quam vis" to Prof. Jerzy Wyrozumski – an eminent medievalist historian, whose entire academic path was closely linked to the Jagiellonian University.
