The YEAR 2017

Professor Stanisław Waltoś, born in 1932, is one of Poland’s most prominent lawyers and criminal procedural law specialists. From the beginning of his career, he has been associated with the Jagiellonian University and is an honorary Professor of that institution. He also holds honorary doctorates from the University of Warsaw (2011) and Maria Curie-Skłodowska University (2004). He is an active member of the Polish Academy of Learning as well as of the Polish Academy of Sciences, a member of the International Council of Museums (ICOM) and a former vice-chairman of the Polish National Committee of ICOM, the author of translations of both versions of ICOM’s Code of Ethics for Museums, and a co-author of the 1996 Museum Act. Between 1977 and 2011 he held the position of the director of the Jagiellonian University Museum. His achievements include involvement in the creation of legislation such as, among others, the acceptance of the proposal for the introduction of consensualism into Polish criminal proceedings as well as the institutions of anonymous and crown witnesses. He was also active internationally as, among others, a science expert at the European Council and has worked for the government of Latvia as an expert for criminal codification.

 

He is an author of over 400 publications dealing with criminal law and procedure as well as the history of law and culture including “The fruit of a poisoned tree” (Owoce zatrutego drzewa), “Collegium Maius”, “In the footsteps of Doctor Faustus” (Na tropach doktora Fausta), “The Plunder of St. Mary’s Altar” (Grabież Ołtarza Mariackiego), and “Journeying through the islands of memory” (Wędrowanie po wyspach pamięci). Awarded the Commander’s Cross of Polonia Restituta (1998) and the Commander’s Cross of Polonia Restituta with a star (2011). He is a laureate of the 5th edition of the Aleksander Gieysztor Award of the CitiBank Handlowy’s Kronenberg Foundation for his protection of Polish culture seen in his consistent activity meant to strengthen the position of the Jagiellonian University Museum as well as the promulgation and popularization of Polish cultural achievement throughout the world. The Association of University Museums granted Professor Stanisław Waltoś honorary membership on November 23rd, 2017.

 

The YEAR 2019

Professor Marcin Chrzanowski, born in 1939, is an alumnus and a long-time employee of the Cracow University of Technology, a specialist in the field of material mechanics and construction, he possesses extensive international experience and has held several academic positions including faculty chairman, deputy rector, deputy chancellor and, between 2002 and 2005, rector of the Cracow University of Technology. It was through his initiative that the Museum of the Cracow University of Technology with which he is closely tied until this day was established. His museum-related activities concentrate on the demonstration of connections between the humanities, sciences, and engineering. He devotes a lot of attention to the issue of the identity of university museums which should support the general scientific and educational activities of institutions they represent.

The Professor’s historical interests focus on the heritage of Lviv’s universities where Cracow University of Technology’s roots lie as well as the persona of Tadeusz Kościuszko, the school’s patron. Professor Chrzanowski is also the founder and editor of the Historical Notebooks of Cracow University of Technology (Zeszyty Historyczne Politechniki Krakowskiej) that have been published since 2017. His long-standing interest in the humanities is reflected by, among others, his membership in the Royal Society of Arts and Sciences in Gothenburg (Kungliga Vetenskaps-och Vitterhets-Samhället – KVVS i Göteborg). The Association of University Museums granted Professor Marcin Chrzanowski honorary membership on March 27th, 2019.         

 

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Ewa Otremba, born in 1951, an alumnus of the Faculty of the Humanities of the University of Gdansk, a documentalist, long-time curator of the university’s museum, explorer of Polish maritime education, and expert in matters concerning marine-related literature. Since 1975 she has been affiliated with the Maritime School in Gdynia (later the Maritime Academy and currently the Gdynia Maritime University). Between 1976 and 1980 she contributed to the work of a scientific research team gathering materials needed for the continuation of the pre-war Museum of the State Maritime School. During the period spanning from 1990 to 2019, she was the curator of the university’s museum. Through her cooperation with people connected to the sea, she has obtained archival records and artifacts documenting the development of maritime education, the sea-related work of alumni, their participation in battles during various wars. She has studied parts played by the school’s graduates in the creation of Polish maritime policy and gathered materials concerning the emigration of the alumni. This collection was expanded with items connected to the beginnings of maritime education in Tczew and the pre-war Gdynia as well as from the period of the Second World War (the school continued its didactic work in Great Britain). She is the author of scientific and popular articles, biographies, book reviews, and designs for exhibitions presented locally and outside the university. She has edited publications as well as prepared didactic and promotional materials. She has carried out historical education, worked toward the reintroduction of traditions emphasizing the identity of a school producing officers for the merchant navy, initiated commemoratives. During the period between 1992 and 2017, she activated students creatively through the inclusion of maritime practices in tasks connected to documentation. She organized a cycle of open maritime-related meetings dealing with the subjects of history, literature, and the arts that allowed inter-generational discourse. Honored with a Bronze and a Silver Cross of Merit, Medal of the Distinguished Maritime Professional, Medal of the Maritime University’s 90-years of Operation, Rector’s awards, an Award of the President of the City of Gdynia, and the Edmund Kłopotowski Medal. Since 2008 she took part in the process facilitating the integration and cooperation of university museums as well as worked at the Association of University Museums.

The Association of University Museums granted Ewa Otremba honorary membership on October 23rd, 2019.