ANN ARBOR— Five people with ties to the University of
Michigan recently received civilian medals of honor from
President Aleksander Kwasniewski of Poland for their
efforts to promote Polish culture and affairs at the U-M.

The Gold Cross of Merit was given to: Bogdana C.
Carpenter, professor of Slavic languages and literatures;
Michael D. Kennedy, vice provost for international affairs,
director of the International Institute and associate
professor of sociology; Piotr Michalowski, professor of
Near Eastern studies; and Marysia Ostafin, program
associate, Center for Russian and East European Studies.

U-M alumnus Jozef Blass received the Knight’s Cross of
Merit, Poland’s highest civilian honor, for his support of
Polish initiatives at the University and for his leadership
in advising Polish businesses and institutions during the
transition to democracy.

“The vision of what it means to be a global university
was developed with Polish scholarship and collaboration at
its heart,” Kennedy said in a speech at the awards ceremony
held late last month in Warsaw. “Poland’s contributions to
world culture and history have long been recognized and we
are especially pleased that they have found their place at
the University of Michigan.”

The University established an endowment in Polish
studies in 1973 during a celebration of the 500th
anniversary of the birth of Nicolaus Copernicus and earlier
this year organized an international conference to
recognize the 10-year anniversary of the 1989 Polish Round
Table negotiations that led to the collapse of communism in
the region.