Honorary Doctorate Recipients

The award of the honorary doctorate to Professor Grzegorz W. Kołodko took place during the jubilee inauguration of the 2021/2022 academic year on 12 October 2021. The ceremony was attended, among others, by Polish MPs, representatives of local and municipal authorities, rectors of economic and Poznań universities, and members of the Partner Club. The supervisor in the procedure for conferring an honorary doctorate on Professor G. W. Kołodko was Professor Marek Ratajczak, with reviewers Professor Elżbieta Mączyńska-Ziemacka and Professor Jerzy Wilkin. The highlight of the ceremony was the inaugural lecture titled The irreversibility of globalisation and the future of the Polish economy, which was delivered by the 27th doctor honoris causa of the Poznań University of Economics and Business – Professor Grzegorz W. Kołodko.

Grzegorz W. Kołodko – professor of economic sciences and university lecturer, one of the main architects of Polish economic reforms, author of numerous books and research papers, expert and consultant of international organisations; Director of the TIGER Transformation, Integration and Globalisation Economic Research centre at Kozminski University in Warsaw; Distinguished Professor of Belt and Road School, Beijing Normal University; Member of Academia Europaea; As Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance in 1994-1997, he successfully led Poland to join the OECD. Reappointed to this position in 2002-2003, he played an important role in the European Union accession process. When he was in charge of coordinating economic policy, Poland’s per capita GDP increased by more than a third.

Born in 1949 in Tczew. After graduating from SGPiS (now Warsaw School of Economics) in 1972, he received his doctorate in 1976 and his postdoctoral degree in 1984. Since 1989, professor of economic sciences; honorary doctor and honorary professor at 11 foreign universities; foreign member of the Russian Academy of Sciences; author and scientific editor of 59 books and numerous research papers and articles published in 26 languages, including more than 260 in English.

Between 1982 and 1988, adviser to the Chairman of the National Bank of Poland. In 1988, founder and Director of the Scientific and Research Department of Banking and Monetary Policy of the NBP. During the period 1989-1994, Director of the Institute of Finance. In 1989, he was involved in the Round Table negotiations. Member of the Economic Council of the Council of Ministers in 1989-1991 in the cabinets of Prime Ministers Tadeusz Mazowiecki and Jan Krzysztof Bielecki.

Fulbright scholarship holder at the University of Illinois, USA, from 1985 to 1986. Research Fellow at the United Nations University World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER) in Helsinki in 1988, 1989 and 2002. Consultant to the International Monetary Fund in the Research Department in 1991 and 2000 and in the Fiscal Policy Department in 1992 and 1999. Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Finance and Monetary Policy in Tokyo in 1994 Distinguished Sasakawa Chair and Research Professor in Development Policy at WIDER in Helsinki in 1997-1998. Visiting Fellow at the World Bank in 1998,  Senior Research Fellow at Yale University in 1998.

Multiple recipient of awards from the Ministry of Science and Higher Education, the Polish Academy of Sciences and the Polish Economic Society for research and teaching. Nominated by Euromoney as the Best Minister of Finance in Central and Eastern Europe in 1996. For his contributions to the transformation and development of the Polish economy, he received the Commander of the Order of Polonia Restituta from the President of the Republic of Poland in 1997. Winner of the Special Book Award of China in 2020.

He has lectured and conducted seminars in macroeconomics, economic policy, political economy of globalisation, economics of systemic transformation and public finance at the Warsaw School of Economics (SGH) and the Kozminski University (ALK) and at numerous other universities, especially in the USA (Yale, UCLA, University of Illinois, University of Rochester) and Italy. He has led research and occasionally lectured at research institutes and universities on all continents. Member of Programme Boards of scientific journals and research institutes in the UK, Japan, China, India, Russia, Hungary, Ukraine and Italy, among others. Supervisor of eight completed doctoral theses.

Personal interests: nature and culture, classical music, contemporary literature, travel; he has visited 168 countries and has even been to Antarctica. Marathon runner, completed 50 races on five continents.

Official inauguration of the 2019/2020 academic year

The title of Doctor Honoris Causa is conferred by universities on individuals who have made a significant contribution to research. At the same time, it is a symbolic act of inducting an Honorary Doctor into the academic community. On 15 October 2019, Professor Oded Galor, a prominent and influential economist and founder of the Unified Growth Theory, joined this esteemed company. It is a real privilege for the University that this circle will be expanded to include a world-class economist with tremendous influence in the academia.

He is the founder of the Unified Growth Theory, which underpins the analysis of the economic factors governing the evolution of individuals and societies throughout human history. He pioneered the study of the interaction between the evolution of human and cultural traits and the process of economic development; more recently, he has initiated research into the impact of the exodus from Africa of anatomically modern humans tens of thousands of years ago on observed global disparities in social cohesion and productivity. His work has inspired research into the prehistoric origins of huge inequalities between regions of the world, the economic causes and consequences of human evolutionary processes, cultural and linguistic traits, and the staggering impact of migration from Africa on the wealth of nations.

Oded Galor is a graduate of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (BA 1978, MA 1980) and the University of Columbia, New York (MA 1982, PhD 1984).

He is presently based at Brown University, in the Department of Economics.

Awarded an Honorary Doctorate in 2019.

On 19 March 2019, a ceremony was held to award a Doctor Honoris Causa degree from Poznań University of Economics and Business to Professor Michael E. Porter.

The eminent economist and a world-renowned expert in the field of organisational strategy and competition, a lecturer at Harvard Business School, was presented with the honorary degree in recognition of his outstanding research accomplishments, his creative influence on business practice and economic policy, and his contribution to the development of economic sciences. He thus joined the ranks of 24 high-profile figures who have been bestowed this title in the past.

The ceremony was opened by the Rector of PUEB, Prof. dr hab. Maciej Żukowski, who welcomed the attendees, including numerous representatives of the academic community as well as the business world and city authorities. Professor Michael Porter’s profile was introduced in a laudation by Prof. dr hab. Waldemar Frąckowiak. The work of the eminent economist was also outlined in speeches by two reviewers – Prof. Philippe Gugler of the University of Freiburg and Prof. Krzysztof Obłój of the University of Warsaw. The background to the awarding of the title of Doctor Honoris Causa to Professor Porter was presented by the initiator of the event – Prof. dr hab. Marian Gorynia.

The much-awaited highlight of the ceremony was a lecture by Professor Michael Porter.

Head of the Institute for Strategy and Competitiveness at Harvard Business School, he addressed the problems affecting the world on a global scale. He stressed that economic, social and environmental challenges cannot be resolved by political institutions – the involvement of the business world is required. Businesses have the comprehensive tools, competences and resources to participate in the creation of social and ecological welfare. According to the economist, in order for business to address social problems on a large scale, the principles of optimisation and profitability must be implemented in the process of solving them. One way to do this is through the concept of a value chain, in which every link and participant is a beneficiary, and the focus is on continuous two-way improvement of each element. The professor also emphasised the need to manage resources rationally and take care of the environment.

Awarded an Honorary Doctorate in 2016.

Andrzej Byrt was born on 20 September 1949 in Poznań. He graduated from secondary school with French as the language of instruction, completed university studies in foreign trade at the Poznań School of Economics and earned a doctorate in International Economic Relations at the Poznań Academy of Economics, culminating in 1976 with the defence of his doctoral dissertation entitled Competitiveness in international trade in industrial goods.

For many years he was an employee, CEO and Chairman of the Board of the Poznań International Fair (MTP). At that time, he undertook an extensive investment programme and expanded the scope of MTP’s trade events at home and abroad, increasing MTP’s share of the Polish exhibition market, its turnover and profitability.

As our country’s diplomatic representative abroad, he served as Commercial Attaché at the Polish People’s Republic embassy in Brussels (1987-1990), later promoted to Commercial Counsellor, Head of the Office of the Commercial Counsellor at the Polish Embassy in Brussels.

He was twice appointed as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Poland to the Federal Republic of Germany (1995-2001 and 2002-2006). In 2001, he was Advisor to the President of the Republic of Poland on German and Economic Affairs, and was later appointed Undersecretary of State in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland with responsibility for, inter alia, the Republic of Poland’s bilateral relations with the countries of the European Union, Africa and the Middle East, as well as for economic, cultural affairs and Poland’s public diplomacy around the world. Since 2014, he has been Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Poland to the French Republic and the Principality of Monaco.

Andrzej Byrt is a member of the economic committee of the Polish Academy of Sciences, a member of the colleges of the President’s Economic Prize and many civic bodies.

For years, he has also been a lecturer on international economic relations, the art of diplomacy, international economic negotiations and diplomatic protocol.

For his services to date, he has been awarded the Officer’s Cross (1997) and Commander’s Cross (2011) of the Order of Polonia Restituta, the Grand Cross with Star and Sash of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (2001), the Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Estonia (2002), the Cross of Merit of the Rhineland Palatinate (1997) and a number of industry and social awards.

Official inauguration of the academic year 2011/2012 on 29 September 2011 accompanied by a ceremony to confer the title of Doctor Honoris Causa on Hans Dietrich Genscher.

Poznań University of Economics and Business celebrated its 85th anniversary with an honorary doctorate for Hans Dietrich Genscher.

On 29 September 2011, in the Adam Mickiewicz University Auditorium, at 11.00 a.m., the Poznań University of Economics and Business commenced its new academic year, thus concluding the celebrations of the University’s 85th jubilee.

The inauguration ceremony was preceded by the unveiling of statues of two great scholars of the Poznań University of Economics and Business, Professors Edward Taylor and Zbigniew Zakrzewski, in front of the University’s Main Building.

Then, to the sound of a brass band, the Senate, together with the invited guests, marched to the Adam Mickiewicz University Auditorium to welcome Hans-Dietrich Genscher, a world-renowned politician, former Minister of Foreign Affairs and German Vice Chancellor, in the ranks of honorary doctors of the Poznań University of Economics and Business.

The University Senate conferred the title at the request of the Councils of the following Faculties: Economics, International Economics, Computer Science and Electronic Economy, Commodity Science and Management at the Poznań University of Economics and Business. Hans Dietrich Genscher was awarded the title in recognition of his outstanding achievements in the field of foreign policy, and in particular for his extraordinary contribution to the negotiation of the treaty recognising the Oder-Neisse border as the state border between Poland and Germany, adopted by both countries in 1991, in recognition of his work for international détente and the end of the Cold War, for his participation in international negotiations owing to which the peaceful reunification process of Germany, our neighbour and most important economic partner, was made possible, and for his support for the driving forces of reform in Poland at the end of the 1980s.

The invited guests included the Marshal of the Wielkopolska Region, Marek Woźniak, and the Mayor of Poznań, Ryszard Grobelny, who also offered commemorative gifts.

The inaugural celebrations, however, already began on 28 September with a panel discussion Poland-Germany. Far away, yet so close attended by, among others: Andrzej Byrt, President of the Poznań International Fair and Michael Kleiss, President of Volkswagen Poznań S.A.

The new academic year 2011/1012 will begin with 16,000 students across all forms of study and programmes.

Awarded the Honorary Doctorate in 2010.

On the second day of the 2nd PUEB Days celebrations, 21 January, at 11.00 a.m. in the University’s Auditorium, during an extraordinary meeting of the Senate, the Poznań University of Economics and Business welcomed Professor Stanisław Gomułka as its twenty-second Doctor Honoris Causa.

Professor Stanisław Gomułka graduated in physics from the University of Warsaw in 1962. Immediately after completing his studies, he took up a job at the Faculty of Economics at the University, as an assistant to Professor Oskar Lange, at that time a leading economist and Deputy Chairman of the Council of State of the People’s Republic of Poland. In 1966, he defended his doctorate in economics under Professor Michał Kalecki. From 1965 onwards, his adventure with so-called ‘business practice’ began. Between 1965 and 1960, he worked at the Research and Experimental Woodwork Institute in Warsaw, and for the next two years at the Institute of Internal Trade in Warsaw, at the same time earning a postdoctoral scholarship from the Polish Academy of Sciences.

In May 1969, he left Poland for the United Kingdom. A year later he joined the London School of Economics, where he taught until 2005. During this time, he was also a lecturer and researcher at a number of academic centres, including the Faculty of Economics at the University of Economics and Business in Aarhus, Denmark (1972-1973), the Netherlands Institute for Social Sciences and Humanities in Wassenaar, the Netherlands (1980-1981), the Faculty of Economics at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, USA (1984-1985), the Hoover Institution at Stanford University in Palo Alto, USA (1985, July-September), the Harriman Institute at Columbia University in New York, USA (1986) and the Institute for Russia and Eastern Europe at Harvard University in New York, USA (1986). Russia and Eastern Europe at Harvard University in Boston (Cambridge) USA (1989 August-January 1990).

Most of Professor Stanislaw Gomułka’s research and lectures were on issues of economic growth, macroeconomics and comparative economic systems. In his extensive publication output, the following are particularly noteworthy: Creative Activity, Diffusion and Stages of Economic Growth (1971), Growth, Innovation and Reforms in Eastern Europe (1986) and Theory of Technological Change and Economic Growth (1990), also as co-author and co-editor of Polish Paradoxes (1990) and Emerging from Communism: Lessons from Russia, China and Eastern Europe (1998).

In the 1980s he was a consultant to the International Monetary Fund, the OECD and the European Commission. In September 1989, he came to Poland to advise the new government on the so-called political and economic transformation. Together with Jacek Rostowski, Jeffrey Sachs and David Lipton, they formed a team of foreign advisors to Deputy Prime Minister Professor Leszek Balcerowicz, contributing to the development of the so-called Balcerowicz Plan. From 1989 to 1995, he was also the official Polish negotiator with the International Monetary Fund on all macroeconomic programmes. Until 2002, he advised successive finance ministers and the head of the National Bank of Poland, Hanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz. He was also an advisor in Russia to Prime Minister Yegor Gaidar. Professor Stanisław Gomułka has served as chief economist of the PZU Group since 2002 and is currently chief economist of the Business Center Club.

Professor Stanisław Gomułka’s extraordinary activity in the field of organisation also deserves recognition.

He served as a member of many organisations and research societies. Among others, he was a member of the Scientific Council of the Institute of Public Affairs (1994-98), the European Integration Council to the Prime Minister (1997-1998), the Scientific Council of CASE (1992-2000) and the Scientific Council of the Institute of Economic Sciences of the Polish Academy of Sciences (1991-2000).

Professor Stanisław Gomułka has an entry in Who’s Who in Economics (second edition, 1986 and third edition 1999) and in the biographical dictionary of the world’s greatest (most cited) economists.

Inaugurating the ceremony, the Rector, prof. dr hab. Marian Gorynia emphasised that throughout its history the University has undergone many twists and turns, many ups and downs. It has changed its name five times to finally join the elite group of university centres on 27 December 2008. Less than a year ago, the University community celebrated this momentous fact by conferring an Honorary Doctorate on Professor Danuta Hübner, as the 21st Honorary Doctor of PUEB. The past year was full of many important facts and events for the University. Many of them were a source of pride and satisfaction, but there were also some difficult moments, which however should not be mentioned today on this special occasion.

Continuing his speech, the Rector emphasised that it has become a tradition of the University to award honorary doctorates at particularly solemn and important moments. Therefore, Poznań University of Economics and Business keeps this beautiful tradition also today, by welcoming into the University community Professor Stanisław Gomułka, an outstanding, world-renowned and highly respected Polish economist as the twenty-second doctor honoris causa. The degree of ‘doctor honoris causa’ is an honorary academic title bestowed by academia worldwide. The group of people bestowed with this highest academic title is also quite unique. The Rector emphasised with pride that the Poznań University of Economics and Business is bestowing this highest academic distinction on a widely recognised authority in the field of economics. This is a great honour for the University.

Later in the ceremony, the Rector announced that the Senate of the Poznań University of Economics and Business, by Resolution No. 36 of 18 December 2009, at the request of the Councils of the Faculties of Economics and of International Business and Management of the Poznań University of Economics and Business, having studied the content of the reviews prepared by prof. dr hab. Krzysztof Jajuga and prof. dr hab. Andrzej Wojtyna, unanimously decided to confer the title of Doctor Honoris Causa to Professor Stanisław Gomułka, Professor of Economics, in recognition of his outstanding research achievements and contributions to the development of economic sciences with regard to macroeconomics, comparative economics and economic growth theory, as well as his contribution to the development of an effective programme of economic reforms in Poland in the 1990s.

The Rector then asked Professor Emil Panek, former Rector of the Academy of Economics in Poznań and current Dean of the Faculty of Information Technology and Electronic Economy, supervisor of the achievements of Professor Stanisław Gomułka, to deliver a laudation.

On hearing the laudation, the Rector gave the floor to the reviewers of Professor Stanisław Gomułka’s work: Professor Krzysztof Jajuga (member of the Scientific Council of the National Bank of Poland), and Professor Andrzej Wojtyna (member of the Monetary Policy Council) from the Cracow University of Economics.

Thanking both reviewers for their short remarks, the Rector announced the official act of awarding the honorary doctorate to Professor Gomułka.

After receiving the degree, the new doctor honoris causa of the Poznań University of Economics and Business gave a 20-minute lecture.

The musical setting of the concert was provided by the Female Choir SONANTES of the Poznań University of Economics and Business, conducted by Ms Hanna Malicka, accompanied by Ms Bożena Nalewajko.

After the formal part of the ceremony in the University Auditorium, the guests moved to Room 111 A for a special meeting during which they could congratulate the new Doctor Honoris Causa of the Poznań University of Economics and Business.

Following the ceremonial meeting of the Senate, the Rector, Prof. Marian Gorynia, together with the Vice-Rectors and Deans, attended a luncheon at the NH Hotel, hosted by the Mayor of Poznań, Ryszard Grobelny, to mark the celebration of the University.

Awarded the Honorary Doctorate in 2009.

Professor Danuta Hübner, European Union Commissioner for Regional Policy, has been awarded the 21st Doctor Honoris Causa from the Poznań University of Economics and Business.

This is also the first Honorary Doctorate after the renaming of the university.

The ceremony conferring the title of doctor honoris causa to the current Commissioner for Regional Policy took place on 20 February 2009. It was the focal point of the Senate’s Ceremonial Session held to mark the change of name from the Academy of Economics to the Poznań University of Economics and Business. The formal name change took place on 27 December 2008. The former Academy of Economics was granted university status following the right to award doctoral degrees in six disciplines.

The University’s honorary doctorates have been awarded to, among others, Lady Margaret Thatcher, Professor Leszek Balcerowicz, Dr Klaus Haensch and Professor Janos Kornai.

During the Ceremony, the Deputy Marshal of the Wielkopolska Region, Wojciech Jankowiak, presented His Magnificence the Rector, Professor Marian Gorynia, with the Badge of Honour for Services to the Wielkopolska Region, which was awarded by the Board of the Wielkopolska Region to the Poznań University of Economics and Business.

Badge of Honour for Services to the Wielkopolska Region

The 20th Honorary Doctor of Poznań Academy of Economics (AEP) 2007 – Professor Leszek Balcerowicz.

During the official inauguration of the 81st Academic Year at the Academy of Economics in Poznań (AEP), the President of the National Bank of Poland, Professor Leszek Balcerowicz, received the honour of Doctor Honoris Causa. Thus, the academic community of AEP was joined by the twentieth Doctor Honoris Causa. The awarding of this title to Professor Balcerowicz is a recognition of his outstanding contributions in the field of the transformation of the Polish economic system, the development and popularisation of economic knowledge and culture, or, last but not least, his stature symbolising exemplary public service, the pursuit of objective truth and Poland’s sustainable development.

The laudation was delivered by Professor Wacław Wilczyński, who described Professor Balcerowicz as “a scholar and politician who made a major contribution to the demystification of socialism as a systemic alternative that actually impeded development. Professor Balcerowicz contributed enormously to the revaluation of the market economy, to the return of many countries to freedom, to rationality”.

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Awarded an Honorary Doctorate in 2001, Germany.

Awarded an Honorary Doctorate in 1998, Poland.

Awarded an Honorary Doctorate in 1996, United Kingdom.

Awarded an Honorary Doctorate in 1996, Germany.

Awarded an Honorary Doctorate in 1995, Italy.

Awarded an Honorary Doctorate in 1993, Netherlands.

Awarded an Honorary Doctorate in 1993, Germany.

Awarded an Honorary Doctorate in 1993, Poland.

Awarded an Honorary Doctorate in 1986, Poland.

Awarded an Honorary Doctorate in 1986, France.

Awarded an Honorary Doctorate in 1986, Germany.

Awarded an Honorary Doctorate in 1986, Poland.

Awarded an Honorary Doctorate in 1981, Poland.

Awarded an Honorary Doctorate in 1978, Hungary.

Awarded the Honorary Doctorate in 1977, Poland.

Awarded an Honorary Doctorate in 1976, Poland.

Awarded an Honorary Doctorate in 1976, Netherlands.

Awarded an Honorary Doctorate in 1976, United States.

Awarded an Honorary Doctorate in 1971, Poland.