SUA awarded Honorary Degree to Prof. Walter F. Leal and Prof. Edward Pierzgalski
10.11.2014On November 4, 2014 at the Slovak University of Agriculture in Nitra the formal meeting of the Scientific Council of SUA, extended by the assembly of Scientific Council of the Faculty of European Studies and Regional Development, took place. The Rector of the University, Dr. h.c. Prof. Peter Bielik awarded the honorary degree "Doctor honoris causa" to internationally recognized scientific and pedagogic personalities - Prof. Dr. habil. Walter F. Leal and to Prof. Dr. habil Edward Pierzgalski.
On November 4, 2014 at the Slovak University of Agriculture in Nitra the formal meeting of the Scientific Council of SUA, extended by the assembly of Scientific Council of the Faculty of European Studies and Regional Development, took place. The Rector of the University, Dr. h.c. Prof. Peter Bielik awarded the honorary degree "Doctor honoris causa" to internationally recognized scientific and pedagogic personalities - Prof. Dr. habil. Walter F. Leal from Research and Transfer centre of Application of Life Sciences of the Hamburg University of Applied Sciences for significant contribution to the development of environmentalism as a science, and to Prof. Dr. habil Edward Pierzgalski from Warsaw University of Life Sciences (SGGW) for significant contribution to environmental science, mutual cooperation and enforcement of authority of SUA in Nitra in international context.
Graduation ceremony was held in the premises of the assembly hall of SUA which is also national historic landmark. Among the honoured guests was the Brazilian Ambassador in the SR Susan Kleebank, the representatives of foreign and Slovak Universities and institutions – Rector of Czech University of Life Sciences in Prague Dr. h. c. prof. Ing. Jiří Balík, CSc., Rector of the University of Constantine the Philosopher in Nitra prof. RNDr. Ľubomír Zelenický, CSc., Vice-rector of the Comenius University in Bratislava doc. RNDr. Ján Pekár, PhD., director of Forestry Research Institute in Warsaw prof. Dr. habil. Janusz Czerepko, President of the Nitra self – governing region and Vice – president of Committee of the Regions in Brussels, doc. Ing. Milan Belica, CSc., and others. We hosted also many academic dignitaries of the Universities, the members of the Scientific Council of SUA in Nitra and Scientific Council of FESRD, honorary Doctors of SUA, members of Academic Senates, the employees and the students of SUA, colleagues and members of the awarded guests.
Candidates were introduced by the Rector of SUA prof. Peter Bielik. The laudation was given by the Dean of the Faculty of European Studies and Regional Development prof. JUDr. Anna Bandlerová, PhD. She highlighted mainly the scientific and research activity of both nominees.
Prof. Walter F. Leal is a director of the Research and Transfer Centre of Application of Life Sciences of the Hamburg University of Applied Sciences. As the Head of the Department of the Environment of Manchester Metropolitan University in United Kingdom, he is a specialist in the field of environmental sciences and sustainable development. In his research activities he focuses on renewable energy, resources, climate changes and sustainable development in Europe, Africa, Latin America and Pacific. He has received many awards from foreign universities as „Honorary Professor“. He is active also as a consultant of German International Agency for development. He is the investigator for working group mechanism of investigation dealing with complaints connected with the projects of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. His cooperation with SUA in Nitra is based on cooperation of common activities of Baltic University Program, cooperation in common scientific research tasks and published results common research issues.
Prof. Edward Pierzgalski works at the Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering of Warsaw University of Life Sciences (SGGW). He is the specialist in the field of water management of rural and forest lands, irrigation, drainage, erosion control and the protection of agriculture and forestry environment. In his research activities he focuses on the influence of anthropogenic factors on dynamics of water resources in rural lands, mitigation of climate changes and sustainable management of natural resources. He has collaborated with SUA in Nitra for almost 20 years. Since 2004, when the Faculty of European studies and Regional Development was founded, he has been an active member of its Scientific Council. Since 2010 he works as a member of Editorial Board of the scientific journal Acta Regionalia et Environmentalica. He is active in various international consortium projects of SUA.
Nominees were presented with the „Honorary Doctorate“ by the SUA Rector, Prof. Peter Bielik.
Prof. Walter F. Leal in his ceremonial speech emphasized the importance of sustainable development to reconcile economic and social progress with full conservation of the environment. He mentioned that only few universities in Europe put sustainability in their profiles. ”However, in general, the universities have accepted sustainability issues, it is also necessary to implement them into study programmes and research,” he said.
Prof. Edward Pierzgalski focused his speech on water and wind erosion issues, the importance of water and water management in the country and the quality of water resources. “It is estimated that until 2030, 800 millions of people will not have an access to secure source of water,” he warned. He reminded also the other problem, the excess of water which leads to floods. He praised the cooperation with specialists from the Faculty of European Studies and Regional Development and the Horticulture and Landscape Engineering Faculty, specifically with prof. Jozef Streďanský, prof. Dušan Húska, prof. Jozef Balla, prof. Zuzana Jureková, prof. Anna Bandlerová, prof. Jaroslav Antala, doc. Ľuboš Jurík and Ing. Klaudia Halászová.
The festive atmosphere of the meeting was magnified by the performance of opera singers Tomáš Ondriáš and Marek Pobuda accompanied by the pianist Matej Vrábel. The event was concluded by the student anthem Gaudeamus Igitur.
On the occasion of the awarding of the Honorary Degree to Prof. Walter F. Leal, who was born in Brazil where he started his career as a student of biology at the University in Bahia, the Brazilian embassy in Slovakia installed in foyer of SUA the exhibition titled “Biomes of Brazil. The biggest biodiversity in the world.” Thirty remarkable large – scale photos will be presented until the end of November.
Ceremonial speech of Dr.h.c. Prof. Dr. habil. Walter F. Leal
Ceremonial speech of Dr.h.c. Prof. Dr. habil Edward Pierzgalski