Prof. Henryk Skarżyński had been honored with the award ‘Visionaries of 21st century’ bestowed by the “Wprost” weekly magazine, for vision, passion and success. The gala ceremony took place in the Old Orangery in the Royal Łazienki Park in Warsaw on 7 December 2016.

The award giving ceremony had been preceded by the debate ‘From vision to implementation’ with the participation of Prof. Henryk Skarżyński, Piotr Woźniak – president of the board of the PGNIG, Przemysław Rasz – president of the board of the Icopal, Tadeusz Zielniewicz – director of the Royal Łazienki Museum and Michał Lisiecki – president of the board of the PMPG Polskie Media. Panelists have spoken about their professional visions, why had they decided to realize them and what barriers they have had to overcome to put their ideas into effect. The debate opened Prof. Henryk Skarżyński, who talked about the clinical, scientific, teaching and organizational successes he had achieved with the team of the Institute of Physiology and Pathology of Hearing in the course of 20 years that have passed since the establishing of the Institute.

– Frankly speaking – Prof. Skarżyński had begun with a humorous reference to the title of the host magazine, ‘Wprost’ meaning ‘frankly’ – today we can speak about our success on a global scale. In the World Hearing Center we perform daily the largest in the world number of hearing improving surgeries. It is many times more than the leading centers in the USA and Europe. There is no other center that reaches even the half of our results. – added Prof. Skarżyński seriously.

In response to the question asked by Jacek Płochopień, chief editor of the ‘Wprost’ who was moderating the debate, how such success can be achieved, Prof. Skarżyński had responded:

– The most important is the belief in success. Also, you need to know what the needs in a given field are. If hearing was not of crucial importance for the development of modern society and if it did not have such impact of communication between people which determines that we remember, process and pass on, then the need for our services would probably be smaller. It is also necessary to remember that at the base of the success lays a hard work and risk.

Other questions asked during the debate regarded the barriers and limitations encountered by people of success. Professor Skarżyński had pointed out that the most important is the ability to perceive the difficulties not as a danger, but as an opportunity for development.

The awards ‘Visionaries of 21st century’ are given to people whose professional carrier is marked with passion, who realize their ideas and who aim to achieve success. This year’s candidates have been chosen in a poll conducted among over 40 managers and business experts.

Rita Schultz from the „Wprost” magazine, inviting Prof. Skarżyński to the stage had recapped his pioneering clinical achievements: the first in Poland cochlear implantation in a deaf patient, first in the world cochlear implantation in an adult with partial deafness and later in a child with partial deafness, launch of the Polish program of treatment of deafness with cochlear implants. Receiving the award, Prof. Henryk Skarżyński had addressed his particular thanks to the team with which he has been collaborating for 25 years.

The awards ‘Visionaries of the 21st century’ edition 2016 had been bestowed also to Izabela Albrychiewicz – president of MEC Poland, Grzegorz Brona – president of the CREOTECH, Jarosław Fijałkowski – president of the Real2b Development, Przemysław Rasz – president of the Icopal, Piotr Woźniak – president of the PGNIG, Izabella Wałkowska – president of the board of the Plastwil and Tadeusz Zielniewicz – director of the Royal Łazienki Museum.