At an official ceremony held last Friday at Budapest’s Pesti Vigadó on the occasion of March 15 – Hungary’s national holiday commemorating the 1848–1849 Revolution and War of Independence – Veronika Varga-Bajusz, State Secretary for Higher Education, Vocational and Adult Education, and Youth, together with Anita Kiss-Hegyi, State Secretary for Cultural Relations, presented recipients with the Hungarian Gold, Silver, and Bronze Crosses of Merit.
Among the recipients of the Hungarian Gold Cross of Merit (Civil Division) were the following faculty members and physicians affiliated with the University of Szeged, recognized for their outstanding professional achievements and exemplary contributions:
József Csikota – Conductor-Director of the Private Primary Art School and Secondary School of Music in Makó, Senior Assistant Professor at the University of Szeged’s Bartók Béla Faculty of Arts, and Conductor of its Concert Wind Orchestra;
Attila Paszt – Specialist surgeon, Associate Professor, and Deputy Director of the Department of Surgery at the University of Szeged’s Albert Szent-Györgyi Medical School;
Tamás Szalai – Associate Professor at the Institute of Physics of the University of Szeged’s Faculty of Science and Informatics;
Erzsébet Várkonyiné Bálint – Biophysicist and retired Honorary Professor at the Institute of Physics of the University of Szeged’s Faculty of Science and Informatics.
As part of the March 15 ceremony, Balázs Hankó, Minister of Culture and Innovation, together with Veronika Varga-Bajusz, State Secretary for Higher Education, Vocational and Adult Education, and Youth, and Magdolna Závogyán, State Secretary for Culture, presented state honors and awards in the arts in recognition of outstanding professional achievements.
In recognition of her contributions to advancing the interests of the Hungarian nation and promoting universal human values, Judit Oláh, Professor at the University of Szeged, was awarded the Officer’s Cross of the Order of Merit of Hungary (Civil Division). A dermatologist and clinical oncologist, she is a Doctor of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Director of the Department of Oncotherapy at the University of Szeged’s Szent-Györgyi Albert Clinical Center, and Head of Department at the University of Szeged. She also serves on the boards of the European Association of Dermato-Oncology, the Hungarian Society of Clinical Oncology, and the Hungarian Dermatological Society.
In recognition of his contributions to advancing the interests of the Hungarian nation and promoting universal human values, Tamás Várkonyi, Professor at the University of Szeged, received the Knight’s Cross of the Order of Merit of Hungary (Civil Division). An internist, endocrinologist, and diabetologist, he is Director of the Department of Internal Medicine at the University of Szeged’s Albert Szent-Györgyi Medical School.
Széchenyi Prizes
Established by the Hungarian Parliament on January 25, 1990, the Széchenyi Prize replaced the former State Prize and has since been awarded annually on March 15 to outstanding figures in science and engineering. It was first awarded in 1990, when seven individual recipients and two groups were honored, alongside 12 posthumous awards. The prize has two grades – the Grand Prize and the Prize itself – with the Grand Prize having been conferred only on a limited number of occasions.
Among this year’s Széchenyi Prize recipients were several researchers affiliated with the University of Szeged and the HUN-REN Biological Research Center in Szeged:
Imre Lengyel – Mathematician, economist, Doctor of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, and Professor Emeritus – received the Széchenyi Prize in recognition of his exceptionally distinguished scientific career, his outstanding research in regional and urban economics – particularly in the study of regional economic growth and development – as well as his dedicated teaching and active engagement in professional public life. He is affiliated with the Faculty of Economics and Business Administration of the University of Szeged;
Csaba Pál – Biologist and Corresponding Member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences – was awarded the Széchenyi Prize in recognition of his exceptionally distinguished scientific career, his internationally outstanding research integrating the methods and concepts of antibiotic research, genome engineering, evolutionary theory, and systems biology, as well as his role in building a research school and mentoring young researchers. He is affiliated with the HUN-REN Biological Research Center in Szeged;
László Trócsányi – Legal scholar, Professor, Rector, former Constitutional Court Judge, Minister, and Ambassador – received the Széchenyi Prize in recognition of his exceptionally distinguished scientific career, particularly his outstanding research in comparative constitutional law, administrative justice, and European public law, as well as his extensive body of scholarly publications, his accomplished teaching, and his dedicated public service. He is affiliated with the Faculty of Law and Political Sciences of the University of Szeged.
Beyond the Széchenyi Prize recipients, the March 15 ceremony also honored an awardee whose work is closely connected to Szeged:
Miklós Melocco – Sculptor; Kossuth Prize laureate; recipient of the Artist of the Nation title; Mihály Munkácsy Prize laureate; Merited Artist; holder of the Hungarian Corvin Chain; and full member of the Hungarian Academy of Arts – was now recognized with the Kossuth Grand Prize for his exceptionally distinguished and era-defining life’s work. His sculptures have renewed the language of the medium with monumental force and profound humanist depth, bringing tradition and modernity into a powerful dialogue. Szeged is also home to several of Melocco’s important works, including the Kuno Klebelsberg Memorial on Széchenyi Square and the 1956 memorial Butterfly of Freedom on Béla Rerrich Square, framed by buildings of the University of Szeged.
Source: Hungarian News Agency (MTI)
