History

HISTORY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF BIOCHEMISTRY AND MICROBIOLOGY

In 2019, due to structural changes at the School of Agriculture and Life Sciences (SGGW), two units of the Faculty of Agriculture and Biology were merged into the newly established Institute of Biology: The Department of Biochemistry (KB) and the Independent Department of Microbial Biology (SZBM). The newly established Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology (KBiM) was headed by Dr Sławomir Orzechowski, who was then in charge of the KB. Also joining the newly established KBiM from the Department of Experimental and Bioinformatics were Dr Krzysztof Pawłowski, Prof. SGGW and Dr Małgorzata Dudkiewicz.

HISTORY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF BIOCHEMISTRY

The beginnings of the Department of Biochemistry can be traced back to the Department of Plant Biochemistry established in 1949 at the Faculty of Agriculture. At that time, it was the first biochemical unit in Poland at an agricultural university, whose organiser and first director (until 1963) was Prof. Ignacy Reifer. Between 1950 and 1953, the Department also housed the biochemical laboratory of the Institute of Cultivation, Fertilisation and Soil Science, and from 1953 to 1963, the Department of Plant Biochemistry of the Polish Academy of Sciences was also located here. Until 1954, the Department of Plant Biochemistry was housed in three rooms in pavilion I at 26/30 Rakowiecka Street, while in 1955 it was transformed into the Department of Biochemistry, which already had five chemical laboratories, an exercise room, a manager’s office with a library and a preparatory room. In 1963, Prof. Ignacy Reifer left the SGGW and Associate Professor Witold Brzeski became head of the Department. In 1970, within the framework of the University’s institute organisation, the Institute of Plant Biology was established at the Faculty of Agriculture, which comprised three former chairs transformed into departments: Biochemistry, Botany and Plant Physiology. Prof. Tadeusz Gorczyński became Director of the Institute, and the Head of the Department of Biochemistry was Prof. Witold Brzeski, who held the position until 1975. In 1976, the Institute of Plant Biology was transformed into the Interdepartmental Institute of Plant Biology. Prof. Jerzy Kączkowski was then appointed head of the Department of Biochemistry. In 1982, the Institute of Plant Biology returned to the Faculty of Agriculture. The Head of the Department of Biochemistry remained Prof. Jerzy Kączkowski. In 1992, following the liquidation of the Institute, the Department of Biochemistry was re-established at the Faculty of Agriculture, headed by Prof. Jerzy Kączkowski.

In 1994, Wieslaw Bielawski, PhD, became head of the Department. In 2003. The Faculty of Agriculture, and with it the Department of Biochemistry, were relocated from Rakowiecka Street to Ursynów. The Chair was placed on the ground floor of Building 37 at 159 Nowoursynowska Street, where it has functioned ever since. In 2004, due to the Faculty of Agriculture’s earlier launch of a new field of study (1998) – Biology – the Faculty’s name was changed. The Faculty of Agriculture was transformed into the Faculty of Agriculture and Biology. Until the end of 2008, the Department of Biochemistry was headed by Prof. Wiesław Bielawski, Ph.D., and due to his assumption of a position in the university authorities, since January 2009 the function of the Department’s head, until now, has been performed by Dr Sławomir Orzechowski, M.Sc.

For more than half a century of the Department of Biochemistry’s existence, many people have shaped its scientific and teaching face. Among the first employees of the Department, in addition to the head, Prof. Ignacy Reifer, the following should be mentioned: Jerzy Kączkowski (later head of the Department), Barbara Grabinowska, Stanisław Buraczewski, Stanisław Niziołek, future professors of the Institute of Biochemistry and Biophysics of the Polish Academy of Sciences – Jerzy Buchowicz, Monika Jeżewska, Kazimierz Kleczkowski. In 1956, Janina Przeździecka (Droese), Witold Brzeski (later Head of the Department) and Zbigniew Kaniuga (later Professor at the Institute of Biochemistry of the University of Warsaw) also started working at the Department of Biochemistry. In the 1960s and 1970s, when teaching duties increased considerably, new staff members came to the Department, including Maria Toczko, Janina Andrzejczuk-Hybel, Anna Niedzielska, Jerzy Rogoziński, Katarzyna Bartoszewicz, Alina Grzelińska, Wiesław Bielawski (later Vice-Chancellor for Development at SGGW and Rector of SGGW), Andrzej Paszkowski, and Danuta Dojczew.

In the following years, the academic staff included Joanna Kwinta, Beata Prabucka, Edyta Zdunek-Zastocka, Anna Miazek, Barbara Zagdańska (later Vice-Dean for Teaching), Agnieszka Grabowska, Elżbieta Zielińska, Urszula Jankiewicz, Sławomir Orzechowski, Małgorzata Nykiel, Ewa Piszczek, Wojciech Gutman, Adam Drzymała. Agnieszka Grabowska, Elżbieta Zielińska, Urszula Jankiewicz, Sławomir Orzechowski, Małgorzata Nykiel, Ewa Piszczek, Wojciech Gutman, Adam Drzymała, Urszula Szawłowska, Joanna Szewińska, Dorota Sitnicka, Magdalena Chojnacka, Dagmara Szworst, Michał Szkop, Joanna Jasnos, Jolanta Maria Dzik, Mateusz Labudda, Justyna Fidler, Marta Gietler, Weronika Świtlik, Paulina Wilczyńska, Aleksandra Chojnacka, Marcin Gradowski, Małgorzata Gutkowska-Stronkowska, Agnieszka Gałązka.

A huge contribution to the development of the Department has been and continues to be made by scientific, technical and administrative staff. In the past these included: Wanda Podres-Kolbuszewska, Elżbieta Batory, Maria Lechowska, Lucyna Stroiwąs, Grażyna Nowak, Agnieszka Koch, Iwona Łowiec. Currently they are: Agata Makówka, Dorota Marecka, Beata Michniewska, Izabela Oktaba, Monika Skawińska. Among the above-mentioned employees, there have been and still are those who have devoted their entire professional lives to the Chair, for some it was an important stage in their scientific development, and still others are just beginning their scientific adventure at the Chair.

HISTORY OF THE AUTONOMOUS DEPARTMENT OF MICROBIAL BIOLOGY

The origins of Microbiology at the Faculty of Agriculture date back to 1918 and are linked to the activities of the Department of Microbiology and Agricultural Industry, which functioned until the Second World War. Its head was Prof. Dr. Wacław Dąbrowski (later Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture and Rector of the SGGW). After the war, in 1953, a Department of Agricultural Microbiology was established at the Faculty of Agriculture under the direction of Prof. Adam Drozdowicz. Then, in 1970, in connection with structural changes at SGGW, the Institute of Soil Science, Agricultural Chemistry and Agricultural Microbiology was formed from the chairs of Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry.

In 1977, the Department of Agricultural Microbiology was transformed into the Department of Soil Biology, with Prof. Mieczysław Górny as its head. The re-establishment of the Department of Agricultural Microbiology (1982) was associated with another restructuring of the University. Prof. Danuta Kulińska became Head of the Department, and in 1987 Prof. Stefan Russel took over as Head. The unit existed as a Chair until 1999. In 1999. The Department was transformed into the Independent Department of Agricultural Microbiology, with Prof. Stefan Russel as its head. In 2000, the Department of Agricultural Microbiology was established with Dr Julitta Gajewska as its head. This department functioned until 2008, when the Independent Department of Microbial Biology was established under the direction of Dr Małgorzata Łobocka. From July 2014 to September 2019. The Department was headed by Tomasz Stępkowski, PhD, Prof. SGGW.

Currently, the Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology employs 24 academic staff, including: 2 SGGW professors: dr hab. Ewa Górska, dr hab. Tomasz Stępkowski; 21 assistant professors: dr Joanna Banasiewicz, dr Aleksandra Chojnacka, dr hab. Małgorzata Dudkiewicz, dr Justyna Fidler, dr Marta Gietler, dr Agata Goryluk-Salmonowicz, dr inż. Agnieszka Grabowska, Dr. Marcin Gradowski, Dr. Małgorzata Grzesiuk-Bieniek, Dr. Małgorzata Gutkowska-Stronkowska, Dr. Urszula Jankiewicz, Dr. Joanna Jasnos, Dr. Mateusz Labudda, Dr. Małgorzata Nykiel, Dr. Eng. Sławomir Orzechowski, PhD, Beata Prabucka, PhD, Hanna Rekosz-Burlaga, PhD, Anna Rybarczyk-Płońska, PhD, Joanna Szewińska, PhD, Weronika Świtlik, PhD. Edyta Zdunek-Zastocka; 1 research and teaching assistant: mgr Agnieszka Gałązka; 2 doctoral students: mgr Bartłomiej Deszcz, mgr Marianna Krysińska; 5 research and technical and administrative staff: dr Agata Makówka, mgr Dorota Marecka, mgr inż. Beata Michniewska, mgr Izabela Oktaba, dr Monika Skawińska.