Photo T. Koprowski |
The conferring of an Honorary Degree on Professor Leszek Balcerowicz at UNSW marks an honourable day for the local Polish community.
As a child who experienced the change of political system in 1989 as if in passing, between doing my homework and hanging out in the playground, I could never fully understand the subsequent fuss around the instigators of the changes which lead Poland to the Western arena. The dramatic transformation of a daily life which was unfolding in front of my eyes was truly extraordinary and, at the same time, just felt so natural. It felt as if we were heading the right direction.
The shops suddenly became full of all the goods one could only dream of and the little stalls and erratic street markets mushroomed everywhere. Everyone was selling or buying every possible commodity! Suddenly, instead of carrying thousands of zlotys I was left with a ten-zloty-note. Of course, at that time I did not understand that the free market economy forces had just been unleashed, and could not predict its implications for my generation.
As a 27-year-old I have become fully aware of the benefits of the political and institutional changes which followed the collapse of the communist regime. I might say that, in the end, the general liberalization of all spheres of life in Poland, i.e. social, economic and political, has brought me to the Australian shores, where I can make a free and informed choice as to where to settle and lead my life.
Therefore, it was with an immense pleasure and honour to attend the ceremony which paid tribute to the genius of a person who was actually stood behind those changes. On Thursday, August 28th the representatives of the University Council of UNSW and the Faculty of Law conferred an Honorary Degree (Degree Honoris Causa) on Professor Leszek Balcerowicz.
It was a truly moving and honourable ceremony accompanied by the speeches of the Chancellor Mr David Gonski AC, the Vice-Chancellor Professor Frederick Hilmer AO and Professor David Dixon, Dean, Faculty of Law, as well as the lecture of Professor Balcerowicz on Institutional Change After Communism.
The 45-min-lecture was, in a way, an outline of the transformation processes on various institutional levels that Poland went through in the rocky 1990s. In a way, it was a reflection of Professor Balcerowicz achievements as the Minister and Minister of Finance and former President of the National Bank of Poland, for which he has been heralded the architect of Poland’s postcommunist economic reforms.
The degree conferring ceremony at the Law theater of UNSW is another acknowledgment to spectacular accomplishments of Prof Balcerowicz. He has received numerous awards including: Poland’s highest decoration: Order of the White Eagle, the ‘Transatlantic Leadership Award’ from the European Institute of Washington, the award of Central Banker of the Year for Europe by the British monthly ‘The Banker’, the annual ‘Emerging Markets Award’ for the Best President of a Central Bank in Central and Eastern Europe, just to name a few.
Professor Leszek Balcerowicz is currently a Professor at the Warsaw School of Economics, a Distinguished Associate of the International Atlantic Economic Society, and member of the Group of Trustees, Institute of International Finance.
Magdalena Kopydlowska
| 
