Vistula Universities are open to new ideas, the world, and of course, people. We follow what is most revealing and inspiring, while undertaking initiatives that may interest and engage others. We focus on the exchange of thoughts, reflection, and dialogue. This course is not only respectful, but is confirmed by outstanding personalities who visit us – recognised scientists, representatives of the world of politics, business, and sports. It is indisputable proof of the prestige of our Universities, and in turn, serves as an important impulse for the academic community to continue open discussions and further development.

• Ali Babacan – a Turkish economist, entrepreneur, and politician, he was a co-founder of the national-conservative Justice and Development Party – AKP, a Member of Parliament and Minister of State for Economic Affairs in 2002–2007, Head of negotiators in talks on Turkey’s accession to the European Union, and then a Minister of Foreign Affairs, from 2009 to 2015, he was the Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs; in 2019, he left the AKP, citing “deep differences” of opinion about the party’s direction, and in 2020, he founded the Party of Democracy and Progress (DEVA); he was a guest of Vistula University in 2012.

• Salvadore Babones – an American sociologist, Professor at the University of Sydney, and Associate Fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies, a specialist in economics, politics, and society in China and the United States. In his scientific work, he also specialises in the theory of world-systems. The author of several books and numerous articles, both scientific and popular in the media, he was a guest lecturer at Nanyang Technological University and Academia Sinica. In 2016, he gave a lecture at Vistula University on ’Inequalities in the global world’, and conducted methodological workshops.

• Włodzimierz Cimoszewicz –a Polish politician and lawyer, with a PhD in Law Sciences, he was a former Member of Parliament and a Senator. President of the Council of Ministers in 1996-1997, in the previous years 1993-1995, he was appointed deputy prime minister, then the Minister of Justice and Prosecutor general, followed by Deputy Speaker of the Parliament of the second term, Head of the Committee for European Integration, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and the Speaker of the Parliament of the 4th term. A Member of the European Parliament since 2019 – he was part of the Left for Europe delegation; and amongst his many roles, Włodzimierz Cimoszewicz was a lecturer at Vistula University.

• Ryszard Czarnecki – a Polish politician, Law and Justice Party member, historian, journalist, sports activist – and member of the Polish Olympic Committee board; a Member of the Parliament of the 1st and 3rd term of office, Member of the European Parliament of the 6th, 7th, and 9th term of office, and in the years 2014-2018, its Deputy Chairman; in 1993, he was a Deputy Minister of Culture, between 1997 and 1998, he was Chairman of the Committee for European Integration, and from 1998 to 1999, a Minister – and a Member of the Council of Ministers. In 2015, he gave a lecture at Vistula University: ’The European Union towards Russia, yesterday, today, tomorrow’.

• Aleksander Doba – a Polish traveller and canoeist, who, in the “National Geographic” plebiscite, won the ’Traveller of the Year 2015’ title. Memorably, he was the first man in history to cross the Atlantic Ocean from Africa to South America alone in a canoe, and thanks to the power of his muscles, he circumnavigated the Baltic Sea and Lake Baikal in a canoe. He was also the first to circumnavigate the entire Polish coast from Police to Elbląg, and diagonally across Poland from Przemysł to Świnoujście. A two-time gold, silver, and bronze medallist of the Polish Open Academic Championships in whitewater kayaking, he sadly died reaching the highest peak in Africa – Kilimanjaro.

• John T. Green – a Professor at Cambridge University, and previously at Imperial College, London, he deals with management in higher education and business, and also develops start-ups, and advises entrepreneurs. In 2014, he was a guest at Vistula University, taking part in the international conference: ’Intellectual Capital and Education, 2014’, which was devoted to co-operation between science and business, as well as education and intellectual capital.

• Abdullah Gul – the President of Turkey from 2007 to 2014, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs in the years, 2003-2007, and the Prime Minister of Turkey in the years 2002-2003; and an ardent advocate of Turkey’s membership in the European Union. He declared that his country’s future lies in a united Europe. He was famously a guest of Vistula University in 2011, meeting with students and lecturers.

• Danuta Hübner – a Polish economist and politician, Professor of Economic Sciences, she has been awarded an Honorary Doctorate by several universities, and since 2009, has been a member of the European Parliament. She introduced Poland to the European Union as the Minister for European Affairs; and in the years 2004-2009, she served as the European Union’s Commissioner for Regional Policy. In her role as Chief negotiator, she led Poland to its membership of the OECD. In 1997-1998, she was the Head of the Chancellery of the President of the Republic of Poland. She also worked abroad at the United Nations and in the rank of Deputy Secretary General of the UN, she headed the European Economic Commission. In 2015, she gave a lecture at Vistula University, titled: ‘European Integration, Anno Domini 2015’.

• Jarosław Kalinowski – a Polish politician, an activist of the Polish People’s Party, and Chairman of the Supreme Council of this party and its former President (1997–2004), in 1997, he served as the Minister of Agriculture and Food Economy, and from 2001–2003, he was Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, whilst simultaneously serving as Vice – President of the Council of Ministers. From 2005–2009, he was Deputy Speaker of the Sejm of the 5th and 6th terms of office, and in the years 1993–2009, was a member of the Sejm of the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th terms of office. From 2009, he was a member of the European Parliament, whilst earlier being a candidate in presidential elections in 2000 and 2005. He gave a lecture, in 2015, at Vistula University: ’Agriculture – Energy – Environment. Selected aspects of Poland’s functioning within the European Union’.

• Jerzy Kwieciński – a Polish engineer, entrepreneur, and state official, as well as a Doctor of Technical Sciences; in 2005–2008, he was Under-Secretary of State in the Ministry of Regional Development, in 2015–2018, Secretary of State in the Ministry of Development; whilst in 2018-2019, he was the Minister of Investment and Development, and in 2019, also the Minister of Finance in the government of Mateusz Morawiecki. Switching roles, in 2020, he became the President of the Polish Oil and Gas Industry; and from January 2021, he was appointed Vice-President of the bank, PKO S.A. It was in October 2016, that he was the guest of honour at Vistula University at the inauguration of the new academic year.

• Robert Krool – the Founder and President of the board of the Life Skills Foundation; a professional mentor, development diagnostician, educator, and entrepreneur; one of the few court experts, in Poland, who could deal with the field of restructuring and business risk assessment. Classified by the media, as among the most influential business advisors in Poland; he was a founding member of the Association of Professional Speakers in Poland. In 2012, he was a guest at Vistula University, taking part in the conference: ’Intellectual Capital of Higher Schools’.

• Andreas Kuettel – an outstanding Swiss ski jumper, and 2009 world champion; in 2017, he defended his Doctorate on Athletes and their Post Career Lives, and started working at Syddansk Universities – the University of Southern Denmark; in 2014, he visited the Vistula School of Hospitality, at the invitation of the then Rector, Professor Jolanta Żyśko.

• Lucy Long – a Culinary Culture Researcher, Professor at Ohio State University, and a member of the Smithsonian Institute (the largest complex of museums and research institutions in the world), involved in building bridges and supporting synergy between science and the public sector in the field of culinary ideas; in 2019, she was a guest of the Vistula School of Hospitality, taking part in the conference: ’Intercultural culinary tourism of generations’.

• Cecilia Malstrom – a Swedish politician, an activist of the People’s Liberal Party, a former Minister for European Affairs, and a Member of the European Parliament; in the years 2010-2014, the European Union’s Commissioner for Home Affairs, from 2015 to 2019, the Commissioner for Trade. Since 2019, she has been a Professor at the University of Gothenburg. In 2017, she led the CETA Forum and the Citizens’ Dialogue at Vistula University: ’New Economic Opportunities for Poland and the EU’.

• Andrew Moravcsik –  a Professor and Director of the European Union programme at Princeton University, Director of the Liechtenstein Institute on Self-Determination, Professor at the Technische Universität München; a leading representative of the theory of liberalism in the science of international relations, and one of the most important figures in the field of European studies in the world. He researches European integration, international organisations and human rights; is also active in teaching and developing qualitative methods, including the development of ‘active citation’, a standard to ensure the transparency of qualitative research in the social sciences. In the past, he was a politician and journalist; but he, nowadays, writes popular and scientific works on classical music, especially operas. In 2015, he gave the inaugural lecture: ’Order and chaos in the 21st century: how to understand the world?’ at Vistula University.

• Henryka Mościcka-Dendys – a Polish lawyer, civil servant, and diplomat, associated with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs since 2002, Under- Secretary of State in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 2013 to 2015; from 2015–2020, the Polish Ambassador to Denmark; a member of the board of the Foundation for Polish-German Co-operation (2011–2016); and from 2020, she was head of the Investments Office in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In 2015, she was a guest of Vistula University, and gave a lecture on ’The Future of Europe’.

• Andrzej Olechowski – a Polish politician and economist, a PhD in Economic Sciences, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Bank Handlowy w Warszawie S.A., a member of the Board of Directors of Euronet Worldwide Inc. and Play Communication; a former Minister of Finance, and Minister of Foreign Affairs; a candidate in the presidential elections (2000 and 2010), a co-founder of the Civic Platform party; from 1992-1993 and in 1995, he served as Economic Adviser to President Lech Wałęsa; he was, formerly, a lecturer at Vistula University.

• Józef Oleksy – a Polish politician and economist, with a PhD in Economic Sciences, he was Prime Minister of Poland in 1995–1996, Speaker of the Parliament of the 2nd and 4th term; in 2004, he was Vice-President of the Council of Ministers, and a Minister of Interior Affairs in the government of Leszek Miller; from 1989–2005, he was a member of the Parliament of the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 10th term, a Chairman of the Social Democracy of the Republic of Poland (1996–1997), and the Democratic Left Alliance (2004–2005), Deputy Chairman of the SLD party in the years, 2003–2004, and 2012–2015; Józef Oleksy was, for many years, the Dean of the Faculty of International Relations of Vistula University, and the Chairman of the Scientific Council of the Institute of Social Affairs and International Relations.

• Colin Rose – a world-famous expert on quick learning techniques, an adviser to the British government, member of the Royal Society of Arts, a publicist, trainer, lecturer a special guest of educational conferences around the world, a businessman, co-founder of the British ‘Campaign for Learning’ – a scientific society under the patronage of the government; and creator of the ’Colin Rose Method’ – an original method of super-fast foreign language learning, also available in Poland. In his work, he strives for the best adaptation of today’s education to the specificity of employment in the 21st century; and serves as a consultant for numerous universities, and the largest global companies. In 2014, he was a guest of Vistula University, taking part in the international conference: ’Intellectual Capital and Education 2014’, devoted to co-operation between science and business, education and intellectual capital.

• Paola Subacchi – a Professor of Economics and Chair of the Board of Directors of the Royal Institute of International Relations (Chatham House), author of ‘The Cost of Free Money’ and ‘The People’s Money: How China is building a global currency’, she regularly appears in the media as an economic commentator. She is also an Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Political and Social Sciences of the University of Bologna; a Director at Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust PLC and BlackRock Greater Europe Investment Trust PLC; and most notably, Founder and Director of Essential Economics, an independent, economic research company. It was in 2015, that she was a guest of Vistula University, taking part in the seminar: ’The Future of Europe’.

• Kazimierz Michał Ujazdowski – a Polish politician, associated in the past with the Law and Justice Party, and currently, with the Citizen Coalition; a lawyer, and Doctor of the Science of Law; Associate Professor at the University of Łódź; Minister of Culture and National Heritage in the years 2000–2001, 2005–2006, and 2006–2007, Deputy Speaker of the Parliament of the 4th term, Member of the Parliament of the 1st, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th terms; Member of the European Parliament for the 8th term, Senator for the 10th term. An author, co-author, and editor of books, devoted mainly to cultural and historical politics, as well as political and constitutional issues, as well as the history of Polish conservatism and conservative thought. It was in 2016, that he gave a lecture at Vistula University: ’To trust Poland and Europe. 5 theses on Poland’s policy in Europe’.

• Guy Verhofstadt – a Belgian and Flemish politician; in 1985, he was elected to the Belgian Parliament and appointed Minister for the Budget; in 1991, he formed the Flemish Liberals and Democrats Party; after election failures, he resigned from politics, but returned in 1997, as party leader with a new programme. In the years 1999–2008, he became the Prime Minister of Belgium, and since 2009, has been a Member of the European Parliament, and leader of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for the Europe Party. It was in 2016, that he gave a lecture at Vistula, titled: ‘The Future of Europe’.

• Margrethe Vestager – a Danish politician, former Minister of Education, member of the Folketinget, leader of the Det Radikale Venstre party since 2007, Minister of the Economy and Home Affairs in 2011-2014, member of the European Commission since 2014, and one of the executive Vice-Presidents of the European Commission from 2019. It was she, who demanded billions of euros in back taxes from Apple, and Google – concessions to competitors; showed that Mastercard is inflating card fees and that Gazprom is pushing up the prices of gas sold to several EU member states, including Poland. It was more recently, in 2019, that she led the ‘Citizens’ Dialogue’ at Vistula University.

• Sun Yuxi – a Chinese poet and diplomat, in 2010-2012, he was Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to Poland; and was decorated by President Bronisław Komorowski with the Commander’s Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland, in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the development of Chinese-Polish relations. He was a guest of Vistula University in 2011.

• Taavi Rõivas – Estonian economist, politician, and local government official, who became a               member of parliament, and in 2012–2014, the Minister of Social Affairs. He was 36, when he took office as Prime Minister. In 1998, he joined the liberal and pro-Western Estonian Reform Party. He worked briefly in a private enterprise, then as an, adviser in the government administration. In 2005, he became a Tallinn City Councillor for the first time. In 2007, he was elected a member of the State Assembly (Riigikogu). In 2011, he was re-elected for another term. On December the 11th, 2012, he took the office of Minister of Social Affairs, in the third cabinet of Andrus Ansip. On March the 14th, 2014, President Toomas Hendrik Ilves entrusted him with the task of forming a government. In addition to the Estonian Reform Party, the Social Democratic Party joined the coalition. In April, 2015, he was re-elected to parliament and formed a second government. In November of that year, the coalition broke up, and his cabinet lost a vote of ‘no confidence’ in the parliament. After leaving the government, he took on the role of Vice-President of the parliament, but resigned in October, 2017. In 2019, he regained his mandate as a member of the Riigikogu for another term.
• John Busuttil – Director of UN Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs and Trade of Malta. An excellent diplomat with a long history of activity in the field of international affairs. He specialises in international relations, politics, human rights, and administration. He is an expert in public affairs with a Master’s Degree in International Relations, Economics, and Law, from the Mediterranean Academy of Diplomatic Studies, University of Malta. He has worked in institutions in Brussels, New York, Geneva, and Bonn. In his career, he has especially dealt with peace and security issues – in particular, in Africa.