Janusz Kawecki was born in Grodno on 21 January 1943. He graduated from the Faculty of Civil Engineering at Cracow University of Technology and specializes in construction mechanics. He earned his doctorate in 1972, completed his post-doctoral qualification (
habilitation) in 1978, and received the title of Professor of Technical Sciences in 1992.
Kawecki currently lectures at the Cracow University of Technology, where he also served as director of the Construction Mechanics Institute from 1995 to 2013. From 2001 to 2013 he was the head of the Construction Dynamics and Statics Department, and from 1996 to 2012 he was a member of the Cracow University of Technology’s Academic Senate. He has been active in the Polish Association of Construction Engineers and Technicians (
Polski Związek Inżynierów i Techników Budownictwa, PZITB) since 1967. Until September 2016 he served as chairman of the Advisory Board of Construction Magazines. He has been an honorary member of PZITB since 2002. Since 1993 he has been an appointed member of the Committee on Civil Engineering and Hydroengineering of the Polish Academy of Sciences (
Polska Akademia Nauk, PAN). From 2006 to 2015 he served as chairman of the PAN Construction Commission.
During the years 1993-1996 Kawecki was a member of the Executive Committee of the General Council for Higher Education.From 1993 to 1999 he served as deputy chairman of the Academic Committee Board of the Polish Association of Construction Engineers and Technicians. From 2005 to 2008 he was a member of the Polish Accreditation Committee (
Państwowa Komisja Akredytacyjna, PKA), and he has been a PKA expert since 2008.
Kawecki has been a member of IASS W. G. Mast & Towers since 1980, and from 1985 to 2016 he was a member of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) on the TC 98 steering committee, a member of the International Association for Wind Engineering (IAWE), during the years 1988-2008 he served as chairman of the Polish Group of IAWE. Since 1992 he has served as chairman of the Board of the Polish Association of Teachers and Tutors.He was also deputy chairman of the Supervisory Board of PKP SA from 1998-2001.
Kawecki created radio programmes for Telewizja Trwam and Radio Maryja and was a columnist for
Nasz Dziennik and the weekly
wSieci, a commentator for broadcasting stations for Polish communities abroad, and also an editor for
Źródło, magazines and other scientific, technical and Catholic publications.
He is a member of, among others, the Association of Catholic Journalists and the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem, with the rank of Knight Commander with Star, and he is also a Knight of the Order of Our Lady of Częstochowa.
He has received the PZITB Prof. S. Bryła Award, the PAN F. Jasiński Award, and the “…bez światłocienia” Award of the Association of Catholic Journalists. He has also been decorated with the Prof. R. Ciesielski Medal and the Knight’s Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta. He has received a Medal of Service from the Cracow University of Technology and has been granted the title of
Amicus Minorum.
On 12 September 2016 Kawecki was appointed to the National Broadcasting Council by the President of the Republic of Poland.
