Gdynia Maritime University GMU

Speech of HM Rector of GMU during
the ceremony for the conferral of the honorary title 
of Doctor honoris causa
of Gdynia Maritime University on
Professor/Captain Daniel Duda

Ladies and Gentlemen, Distinguished Guest, Honourable Doctorant, Esteemed Senate.

Once again, I’d like to warmly welcome our honourable doctor and Professor Daniel Duda, together with his wife and Professor Piotr Jędrzejowicz his doctoral supervisor.

A warm welcome to members of the Senate of Gdynia Maritime University, the hosts of today’s ceremony. 

I welcome all of you taking part in today’s ceremony remotely, gathered around computer screens, especially the Professor’s family, friends, colleagues, neighbours, and acquaintances.

I would like to welcome the Minister, the Governor, the President, the Rectors, the Directors, the CEOs, the Chairs, the Professors, and the entire academic community of our University; the staff, the students, the doctoral students, but also the alumni, including the Professor’s former students!

The prevailing coronavirus pandemic, and in particular the lockdown declared in our region, have forced us to change the script, so to speak, and hold even an important ceremony in hybrid mode as well. I understand that many of you may feel unsatisfied and disappointed today. I hope you do not resent the fact that you cannot be here in the auditorium physically with us. Speaking now to a deserted hall, I feel that you are here with us spiritually.

If we were to consider only the number of people who have sent in expressions of their congratulations, and I guess there are still more to come, today the auditorium would be bursting at the seams.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

In just a few moments, I have will the great honour of announcing the decision of the Senate of Gdynia Maritime University for the conferral on Professor Daniel Duda, the honorary title of Doctor honoris causa of Gdynia Maritime University.

When I became Rector a few months ago, I was convinced that this should be one of my first decisions. I am proud of the fact that I put forward the nomination almost immediately, that the application was quickly and efficiently proceeded, and that the initiative was received approvingly and with much understanding by the academic community at our University. The Senate passed a Resolution for the initiation of a motion for the award of the title of Doctor honoris causa on 5th November of last year.                                                                          

Under the Articles of Association of our University, this honorary title is conferred on persons of particular merit for their work in the development of science, culture and society.  Only three persons have been given this honour in the University’s history to date - each of them outstanding individuals in science and the maritime industry.  Today, joining this esteemed group will be Professor Daniel Duda,  a long-serving rector inextricably linked to our University.  We could say the “Rector of all rectors” because it was he who brought to the job all rectors that came after him.  Professor Piotr Jędrzejowicz, Professor Józef Lisowski, Professor Piotr Przybyłowski, Professor Romuald Cwilewicz, Professor Janusz Zarębski.  And today’s rector also.  For the first year of my undergraduate studies in the Faculty of Navigation, the rector of Gdynia Higher Maritime School, my director, was today’s honorary doctor, Professor Daniel Duda.

The Senate of Gdynia Maritime University was unanimous in its decision of 28th January to award Professor Duda this most prestigious academic honour after receiving resolutions from three other higher education institutions in support of its resolution: the Senate of the Polish Naval Academy, led by Rector and Commander Rear Admiral Professor Tomasz Szubrycht, the Senate of Szczecin Maritime Academy under the leadership of Rector Dr and Master Mariner Wojciech Ślączki,  and the Senate of the University of Gdansk and Rector Professor Piotr Stepnowski, as well as the opinions of Professor Stanisław Gucmy, the long-serving previous rector of Szczecin Maritime Academy, Professor Zbigniew Łukasik of the University of Technology and Humanistic studies in Radomir, a previous rector of this university, and a previous employee of our University, and Rear Admiral Professor Tomasz Szubrycht, the current rector and commander of the Polish Naval Academy.

The Senate of Gdynia Maritime University, with the support of the senates of The Polish Naval Academy in Gdynia, Szczecin Maritime Academy, and Gdansk University, in recognition of outstanding service for maritime education in Poland and the development of Gdynia Maritime University, confers by Resolution 20/17 of the Senate of 28th January 2021 the honorary title of Doctor honoris causa of Gdynia Maritime University on Professor Daniel Duda. 

Signed by the Rector and the Doctoral Supervisor.

Honourable Professor, Distinguished Doctor honoris causa of Gdynia Maritime University!

Please accept my most sincere congratulations! The award of the highest academic honour is in recognition of your great achievements and special contributions to the development of the maritime economy, administration and education in Poland, the promotion of maritime traditions and customs, respect for our history, and the spread of maritime culture in our country.        

Your outstanding achievements and the authority you enjoy internationally and domestically have resulted in the development of the Polish maritime economy and our Alma Mater, of which you are one of the most outstanding figures and personalities of its entire 100-year history.  Today's lecture stands as a confirmation of these words - you are a walking gold mine of knowledge.

Last year, we celebrated the centenary of our University.  We recalled events in Tczew, at the Gdynia Maritime School, State Maritime School, Maritime Higher School, and Maritime Academy. Somewhere along the way, we forgot about the British episode in our history. Ladies and Gentlemen, we have an exceptional history - 100 years of continual service to maritime.  The Maritime School in Southampton, State Maritime School in London, and later, the Technical College in Landywood, near Birmingham, directed by Karol Olgierd Borchardt - are all beautifully written pages of our history.  And history often repeats itself.  The Professor spoke of the Belgians who we taught in Southampton. Well, I’d like to inform you that next Monday students from Antwerp Maritime Academy will set off on a month-long training voyage on our ship, Dar Młodzieży.

Dear Professor!

On behalf of the Senate and myself, as well as the entire Gdynia Maritime University academic community, I congratulate you once again on the award of the highest distinction that is the title of Doctor honoris causa, I warmly wish you further success in all your future endeavours, as well as health, strength and satisfaction with your achievements and all the best in your personal life. Please accept our deepest compliments and gratitude for your outstanding achievements that continue to contribute to and make Polish engineering known around the world.

Once again, congratulations.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Please stand. I now declare closed the sitting of the Senate of Gdynia Maritime University on the occasion of the conferral of the honorary title of Doctor honoris causa on Professor Daniel Duda.