On 14th May, a ceremony was held in the Senate Hall of the Kazimierzowski Palace to award an honorary doctorate from the University of Warsaw to Prof. Adam Daniel Rotfeld – a distinguished expert in international affairs and a member of the UW’s “Artes Liberales” Faculty.

This is a great day for the UW. We are delighted to be able to thank the Professor today for his outstanding achievements, recognised internationally, for his integrity and his significant influence on the development of the University. It is an honour for me to say that the University Senate, at the request of the Faculty of Political Science and International Studies, has unanimously awarded Professor Adam Daniel Rotfeld this highest university distinction. The Professor is a scholar whom every university anywhere in the world would like to have among its employees –  said Prof. Alojzy Z. Nowak, Rector of the University of Warsaw.

On 25th February 2026, the UW Senate passed a resolution to award Prof. Adam Daniel Rotfeld an honorary doctorate from the University of Warsaw. The conferral ceremony took place on 14th May in the Senate Hall on the Main Campus. The event was attended by, amongst others, Radosław Sikorski, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs; Prof. Andrzej Szeptycki, Undersecretary of State at the Ministry of Science and Higher Education; the reviewers of Prof. Adam D. Rotfeld – Prof. Marek Belka, Prof. Andrzej Mania and Prof. Hanna Suchocka – as well as Michael Schudrich, Chief Rabbi of Poland.

Prof. Alojzy Z. Nowak, the UW Rector, also presented Prof. Adam D. Rotfeld with the University of Warsaw Medal.

In the service of peace

Prof. Adam Daniel Rotfeld is an expert in contemporary international law. In addition to his contribution to the development of research on international relations and peace, he has been involved in public service for many years, both at national and global levels. Among other roles, he served as Director of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute and as a member of the UN Secretary-General’s Advisory Board on Disarmament. He co-chaired the Polish-Russian Group on Difficult Matters. He also participated in the work of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe. He served on the National Security Council. In 2005, he served as Minister of Foreign Affairs. He is the author of over 20 monographs, the scientific editor and co-author of around 50 collective works and 400 studies and essays in national and international periodicals. He has lectured at universities in Austria, Japan, China, Russia, Germany, Norway, Switzerland, Sweden, Finland, New Zealand, Australia, Ukraine and the United States. He works at the UW’s Faculty of “Artes Liberales”, under whose auspices he initiated a series of seminars entitled “Spotkanie na Dobrej” (ENG: Meetings on Dobra Street). In recent years, he has focused primarily on issues relating to the formation of a new international order.

During the ceremony conferring the honorary doctorate, the laudation was delivered by his supervisor, Prof. Roman Kuźniar from the UW’s Faculty of Political Science and International Studies.

-My acquaintance with Prof. Rotfeld has been an experience of humanity at its very best. I am grateful for the honour and privilege bestowed upon me by my alma mater in entrusting me with the role of supervisor to Prof. Adam Daniel Rotfeld, for which I would like to express my sincere thanks to the UW Senate, – said Prof. Kuźniar during his speech.

– We are dealing with an exceptional figure, a scholar who not only analysed the international reality but also had a real influence on its shape. His knowledge and experience found direct application in the practice of international relations. As Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs and subsequently Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland, the Professor brought to Polish diplomacy a culture of dialogue, strategic thinking and the conviction that foreign policy requires not only effectiveness but also responsibility, – added Prof. Katarzyna Kołodziejczyk, Dean of the Faculty of Political Science and International Studies.

Poland essential for Europe

During the ceremony, Prof. Rotfeld delivered a lecture in which he addressed current international affairs. According to the professor, we are witnessing the decline of the balance of power established after the Second World War. The scholar also touched upon issues related to the tradition of diplomacy and global leadership, as well as Poland’s role on the map of Europe and the world.

“For the states belonging to European organisations – the European Union, the Council of Europe, the OSCE, and in particular the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) – it is becoming a priority to develop a common strategy in which values will occupy a place of equal importance to power, that is, national capabilities and interests. For it is not only material goods that are under threat, but also such existential foundations as spiritual values, which include a sense of identity, culture and way of life (…). The search for new solutions should be commensurate with the risks and threats. It is in Poland’s national interest to convince Poles once again that, in the face of new threats, our national interest requires us to overcome internal party polarisation. It requires such a strengthening of economic and military security that Poland becomes indispensable to Europe and the entire international community.”