Date added: 2025-04-02
Professor Edmund Wittbrodt with Distinction for Outstanding Contributions to the Pomeranian Voivodeship
The award ceremony took place on 31 March 2025 during the 13th session of the Pomeranian Voivodeship Assembly. Marshal Mieczysław Struk, delivering the laudation, emphasized the fact that the awarding of this distinction is an expression of gratitude for Professor Wittbrodt's invaluable achievements for Pomerania. The Marshal also noted that the professor, thanks to his openness to dialogue and consistent actions, is able to unite people around common goals, while remaining modest and full of distance to himself.
Receiving the award, Professor Edmund Wittbrodt expressed gratitude to the initiators of the distinction, including the Rector of Gdańsk University of Technology, Professor Krzysztof Wilde, Marshal Mieczysław Struk and the Chairman of the Regional Assembly, Jan Kleinszmidt. He also highlighted the importance of values such as self-governance, tolerance and openness, referring to the ideals of Lech Bądkowski, which are the foundations of democracy. The professor also mentioned cooperation with many outstanding figures whose support was crucial for the development of the Pomeranian economy and the cooperation of the university with the regional parliament. In conclusion, he extended special thanks to his family for their invaluable support.
Academic Achievements
Professor Edmund Wittbrodt, born in 1947 in Rumia, is a graduate of Gdańsk University of Technology, where he graduated from the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Technology in 1972. His research focuses on such fields as machine operation and construction, theoretical and applied mechanics, dynamics of mechanical systems, automation, robotics and biomechanics. His achievements include over 30 monographs and textbooks and over 250 scientific publications.
The professor served as the rector of Gdańsk University of Technology from 1990 to 1996, and between 2000 and 2001 he was the Minister of National Education. He served in the Senate of the Republic of Poland for five terms (1997-2015), and was also a member of the European Convention preparing the Treaty of Lisbon (2002-2003). As a senator, he was involved in the work of the Science, Education and Sports Committee, as well as the Foreign Affairs Committee. He was also a member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.
Apart from his political activities, Professor Wittbrodt is an active social and regional activist. He is a co-initiator of the establishment of the Kashubian Institute and a member of the Kashubian-Pomeranian Association, of which he was the president in 2016-2019. Thanks to his efforts, the headquarters of the Polish Space Agency is located in Gdańsk. He is a co-initiator of the establishment and chairman of the Space Sciences Commission of the Polish Academy of Sciences, branch in Gdańsk (since 2017). Additionally, his advocacy resulted in the establishment of the inter-university second-cycle studies program Space and Satellite Technologies (2017).
In Prestigious Company
The "Distinction for Merits to the Pomeranian Voivodeship" is a prestigious award granted to individuals who have contributed in a special way to the development of the region and strengthening its position in various areas of social, scientific and cultural life. Professor Edmund Wittbrodt thus joins the group of outstanding personalities honored with this distinction.