Wigner Medal Awarded to Prof. Stanisław Lech Woronowicz
2025-07-08
Professor Stanisław Lech Woronowicz, a distinguished mathematical physicist and retired professor at the Faculty of Physics, University of Warsaw, has been awarded the prestigious Wigner Medal in recognition of his outstanding contributions to the field of mathematical physics.
The Wigner Medal was established in 1978 by Professor Arno Bohm in honor of Nobel Laureate Eugene Wigner. The award aims to "recognize outstanding contributions to the understanding of physics and chemistry through the application of precise mathematical tools in the spirit of Eugene Wigner." Since 2020, the medal has been awarded in collaboration with the organizers of the Workshop on Geometric Methods in Physics, and as of 2024, Texas A&M University (USA) has also joined the initiative. The medal is funded by the Group Theory and Fundamental Physics Foundation.
Professor Woronowicz is a renowned Polish mathematician and theoretical physicist, professor of physical sciences, and long-time faculty member of the University of Warsaw. He served as Dean of the Faculty of Physics from 1981 to 1984 and headed the Chair of Mathematical Methods in Physics from 1993 to 1996. He is a full member of the Polish Academy of Sciences. For nearly 30 years, his research has focused on the theory of quantum groups — a field in which he is considered one of the co-founders and leading experts.
He is also the recipient of numerous prestigious awards, including the Stefan Banach Prize of the Polish Mathematical Society, the Alfred Jurzykowski Foundation Award, the Foundation for Polish Science Prize in the field of exact sciences, and the Humboldt Research Award from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation.
The award ceremony took place on July 3, 2025, during the XLII Workshop on Geometric Methods in Physics, organized by the Faculty of Mathematics at the University of Białystok. Among the distinguished guests were Darlene Wiley-Bohm, wife of Professor Arno Bohm, and Prof. Che-Ming Ko from Texas A&M University. The ceremony was led by Prof. Wolfgang Schleich from the Institute for Quantum Physics at the University of Ulm, Germany.
Prof. Stanislaw Woronowicz worked at the UwB Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science from 2011 to 2015. He repeatedly participated in conferences in the Geometric Methods in Physics series. He collaborated scientifically with Professor Anatoly Odzijewicz, founder of the Bialystok mathematical physics group, with whom he also shared a personal friendship.