Michał Karoński

(b. 5 September 1946, Śrem)

Karoński attended Karol Marcinkowski High School no. 1 in Poznań, and passed the final examination in 1964. From 1964 to 1969 he studied mathematics at Adam Mickiewicz University. He then studied there for a doctorate, which he completed in 1974 (supervised by Tadeusz Caliński). He gained his habilitation degree in 1984, followed by the title of professor of mathematics in 1996. His main research interests relate to random discrete structures, graph theory and algorithm theory. He has published around 60 scientific papers and one monographic work. He was the founder and long-time editor of the journal Random Structures and Algorithms, and was the supervisor of 15 successful doctoral candidates. He recorded many study visits and lectures at foreign universities, including the University of Florida in Gainesville, the Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Purdue University in Indiana, Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, and Emory University in Atlanta (for a number of semesters from 1992 onwards). In 2010–2016 he chaired the Council of the National Centre of Science. He founded the Department of Discrete Mathematics, which he headed for many years. He was the first dean of the new Faculty of Mathematics and Information Science, holding the position for two terms of office (1993–1999). Since 2016 he has been a member of Academia Europaea (London). He has been awarded the Knight’s Cross and the Officer’s Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta, and in 2016 – the year of his retirement – received a Homini Vere Academico medal from Adam Mickiewicz University.

Roman Murawski

A. Ruciński, “Karoński Michał”, in: Luminarze nauki Uniwersytetu Poznańskiego 1919–2019, ed. Z. Pilarczyk, Wyd. Nauk. UAM, Poznań 2019, pp. 238–242.
L. Maligranda, W. Wnuk, 100 lat matematyki na uniwersytecie w Poznaniu 1919–2019, Wyd. Nauk. UAM, Poznań 2021, pp. 426–427.