Zbigniew J. Witczak, emeritus professor of pharmaceutical sciences at Wilkes University, was honored by the University of Lodz in Poland with the prestigious Universitatis Lodziensis Amico medal. The award recognizes service to the institution by individuals deemed friends of the university.
Since the University of Lodz established the honor in 2005, it has awarded 115 medals, with one of the first presented to Lech Kaczyński, the former president of Poland.
Witczak joined the illustrious honorees following a nearly 35-year collaboration with the Chemistry Department at the University of Lodz. To thank him for his dedicated review of master’s theses, friends from the department nominated Witczak for the highly competitive award. The nomination went to a full vote of the department, then to the University Senate, where he received 100 votes from chemists and 101 votes from biologists.
Witczak, who was born about 11 miles north of Lodz, traveled to Poland in May for the special ceremony. Professor Elzbieta Ządzinska, rector of the University of Lodz, presented the medal.
Though he officially retired from teaching, Witczak remains committed to his carbohydrate chemistry research. A recent paper has been accepted by the selective, peer-reviewed journal Cancers. The paper details lab work with two compounds discovered to be capable of killing cancer cells.
