Dean awarded important personalities of faculty life with commemorative medals

They were awarded during the celebration of the centenary of teaching at the faculty in the Humanities Week. Due to the epidemic situation, it was only streamed for the faculty, but the recording is also available retrospectively.

22 Nov 2021

This year's Humanities Week began with an unusual and exceptional event, necessitated by this year's extraordinary anniversary - in the autumn of 2021, we mark the centenary of the time when regular teaching began at the Faculty of Arts. On this occasion, the Dean of the Faculty, Prof. Milan Pol, has decided to award important personalities of faculty life with faculty commemorative medals on a larger scale than usual. These are awarded not only for merit in the development of science but also for exceptional care in matters related to the running of the faculty. Therefore, among the awardees, besides deserving academics, there were also representatives of the non-academic sphere.

The list of awardees

doc. PhDr. Mikuláš Bek, Ph.D.

Associate professor Mikuláš Bek headed the Department of Musicology at the Faculty of Arts for many years, then served as Vice-Rector for External Relations and then for two periods as Rector of Masaryk University. He was one of the initiators of the transformation of the study offer at Masaryk University.

Jarmila Hudečková

Mrs Jarmila Hudečková has worked successfully for years in the secretariats of several academic departments, and in the last almost ten years she has been working in the Dean's Secretariat. At the same time, she is involved in the administrative part of the operation of the faculty's Scientific Board.

Ing. Ivo Jurtík

Ivo Jurtík has been the Faculty Bursar for many years. He was significantly involved in both phases of the reconstruction of the historical faculty premises.

prof. PhDr. Mgr. Tomáš Knoz, Ph.D.

Prof. Tomáš Knoz is a leading figure in the field of history at the faculty and beyond, and for a number of years served as the faculty's Vice Dean for Research and Development, where he was significantly involved in, among other things, the reconstruction of the faculty's historic campus.

prof. PhDr. Marie Krčmová, CSc.

Professor Marie Krčmová is a leading representative of Bohemia Studies at the Faculty and beyond and has educated a number of students who are now successfully working in the field. For more than ten years, she headed the Department of Linguistics at the Faculty of Arts, served on the Faculty and University Senate and other academic boards.

prof. PhDr. Josef Krob, CSc.

Professor Josef Krob is one of the leading representatives of the field of philosophy at the Faculty, he served as Vice-Dean for many years and for two terms as Dean of the Faculty - during these periods the Faculty successfully went through a major phase of reconstruction of the historical campus.

prof. PhDr. Jiří Kroupa, CSc.

Prof. Jiří Kroupa is a leading representative of the arts and sciences at the faculty. He headed the Department of Art History of the Faculty of Arts, was Vice-Dean for Science and Development, and still serves on the academic boards of the Faculty.

prof. PhDr. Jiří Malíř, CSc.

Prof. Jiří Malíř is a leading representative of historical disciplines at the faculty, for many years headed the Department of History of the Faculty of Arts MU and served on important academic boards of the faculty.

Mgr. Daniel Mikšík

Mgr. Daniel Mikšík has successfully led the Centre for Information Technologies at the Faculty for many years. Under his leadership, this workplace has become an important support for virtually all major areas of faculty operations.

prof. PhDr. Jana Nechutová, CSc.

Professor Jana Nechutová is a leading representative of classical philology at the Faculty and beyond. She has trained a number of her successful successors. She has successfully served as the head of the Department of Classical Studies at the Faculty of Arts, Vice-Dean, and then Dean of the Faculty.

prof. PhDr. Ivo Pospíšil, DrSc.

Professor Ivo Pospíšil is a leading representative of Slavonic Studies at the Faculty and beyond. For many years, he has been the head of the Department of Slavonic Studies at the Faculty of Arts of the Masaryk University and has been involved in the academic committees of the faculty.

Jeffrey Alan Vanderziel, B.A.

Jeffrey Allan Vanderziel chaired the Department of English and American Studies at the MU for a number of years, while also serving successfully in the Faculty and University Senate. He is currently in charge of the Center for the Development of Teaching Competence, a department that is involved in pedagogical support for teaching at the faculties of Masaryk University.

Commemorative medals have been awarded in the same form by the Dean of the Faculty for several decades. They are decorated with the head of the goddess Athena, the patron of wisdom and education. In addition to the medals, all the awardees received a Latin commemorative certificate.

Text of the charter for the commemorative medal

Q. B. F. F. F. S.

Nos Decanus Consiliumque Facultatis Philosophicae Universitatis Masarykianae singularia merita singularibus praemiis honorare cupientes, nummos facultatis nostrae memoriales, imagine Palladis Athenae, deae clarissimae et patronae totius sapientiae, ornatos cudi iussimus, quos sollemnibus occasionibus acciperent, qui in litteris et scientiis colendis vel in ipsis facultatis nostrae rebus adiuvandis eximiam quandam et prosperam operam posuissent.

Itaque cum nominatus condicionibus huius honoris plene satisfecisset, communi omnium sententia decrevimus, ut Nummo Facultatis Philosophicae Universitatis Masarykianae gratae memoriae causa ornaretur, in cuius rei fidem hasce litteras conscribendas curavimus.

May it be for good, benefit, happiness, and joy!

We, the dean and the council of the Faculty of Arts of Masaryk University wishing to reward outstanding merit with outstanding rewards, have had commemorative medals of our faculty struck, decorated with the image of the Pallas Athena, the most glorious goddess and patroness of all wisdom, so that these medals may be awarded on festive occasions to those who have made certain outstanding and useful efforts, whether in scientific research or in the care of the running of our faculty.

And so, since the appointee has fully complied with the conditions of this honor, we have decided, with the general consent of all, that he should be decorated with the medal of the Faculty of Arts of Masaryk University in fond memory, and in proof of this fact, we have had this document drawn up.

The Rector of Masaryk University, Prof. Martin Bareš, was the guest of the festive assembly. In the beginning, there was a short lecture by Vice-Dean Lukáš Fasora looking back at the past hundred years of teaching at the faculty. It was followed by a look at the current situation by Dean Milan Pol. In the end, there was a world premiere of a composition by Matouš Dvořák, a student of the Faculty of Arts, composed especially for this year's anniversary as part of the artistic competition Pear Affair after One Hundred Years.

Unfortunately, due to the epidemic situation, only the award winners and their entourage and representatives of the faculty and university administration could attend the ceremony. However, for the wider academic community, a live stream was available on the faculty's YouTube channel, which is also available as a retrospective recording.