Visiting Scholar Professor Wojciech Szczerba has been awarded the State Professorship in Poland (traditionally known as the ‘Belweder Professorship’), the highest academic title in the country, which represents a lifetime achievement and is granted directly by the President of the Republic of Poland. The official investiture ceremony at the Presidential Palace will take place in the coming months.
Prof Szczerba is a theologian and Rector of the Evangelical School of Theology (EWST) in Wrocław, Poland. He is also International Fellow at Duke University Divinity School and a Visiting Scholar of St Edmund’s College, where he was previously a Senior Research Associate of the Von Hügel Institute.
I feel an immense sense of gratitude to both St Edmund’s and the VHI for providing the intellectual home that made this achievement possible. Since becoming associated with the College and the Institute in 2019, I have spent vital weeks and months working in this inspiring environment. Crucially, it was during my time here that I wrote a major part of my book on human dignity.
Prof Szczerba’s research explores themes of universal salvation, human dignity, and interreligious dialogue in historical and contemporary theological discourse. He has long been engaged in ecumenical and interreligious dialogue, with a focus on reconciliation, civil society, and minority relations.
His recent book, W poszukiwaniu godności/In Search of Dignity (Kęty: Wydawnictwo Marek Derewiecki, 2025) examines human dignity through formative metaphors of humanity, interpreted in light of the challenges of the twenty-first century. An English translation of the volume is forthcoming in 2027.
