Keimyung University President Synn Ilhi has received the Plus Ratio Quam Vis medal, Jagiellonian University’s highest honor.
Keimyung University said it held a medal presentation ceremony on the 20th at Adams Chapel on its Seongseo Campus.
Founded in 1364, Jagiellonian University awarded Synn the medal in recognition of his work to strengthen academic exchange between the two universities and advance Korean studies education and research.
Meaning “Reason is stronger than force,” the medal is Jagiellonian University’s highest honor. Established in 1997, it is awarded to people who have made outstanding contributions to scholarship and the university’s development.
Previous recipients include Pope John Paul II, former French President Valéry Giscard d’Estaing and James D. Watson, who discovered the double-helix structure of DNA.
Keimyung University has supported Jagiellonian University’s Department of Korean Studies since 2017, expanding exchanges of professors and researchers and student mobility. In particular, it established a scholarship program and jointly developed a dual-degree master’s program in Korean studies to support Polish students studying and conducting research in South Korea.
Synn was appointed Poland’s honorary consul in South Korea in 2005 and promoted to honorary consul general in 2012. He has worked to expand educational and cultural exchange between the two countries. He also received Poland’s Grand Cross in 2000 and an Order of Cultural Merit in 2008.
“This medal is more than a personal honor. It is the result of the trust, friendship and academic exchange the two universities have built over many years,” Synn said. “I will work to help students and researchers learn and conduct research together across borders and connect future generations of South Koreans and Poles.”
