WMU HOME > ABOUT WMU > WMU NEWS Szarmach receives Medal of Service from Poland Dec. 10, 2004 KALAMAZOO--Dr. Paul E. Szarmach, director of the Medieval Institute at Western Michigan University, has been commended for his efforts to build bridges between American and Polish medievalists by Aleksander Kwasniewski, president of the Republic of Poland. A letter from the president's office cites Szarmach's "outstanding service in developing a collaboration with the Polish scientific institutions" and confers upon him an Officer Cross of the Medal for Services for Poland. Szarmach was among nine scholars, and one of two Americans recognized at a ceremony Nov. 26 at the Presidential Palace in Warsaw. Medals were presented by President Kwasniewski's chief of staff Yolanta Szymaniak-Deresz. President Kwasniewski was in Kiev participating in negotiations on the recent Ukrainian presidential election and was unable to attend the Warsaw ceremony. Szarmach accepted the award while in Poland for the Third Medieval English Studies Symposium Nov. 27-28 in Poznan. He also visited and lectured Nov. 30-Dec. 3 at the Catholic University in Lubin. Media contact: Thom Myers, 269 387-8400, thom.myers@wmich.edu WMU News Office of University Relations Western Michigan University 1903 W Michigan Ave Kalamazoo MI 49008-5433 USA 269 387-8400 www.wmich.edu/wmu/news