Prof. dr hab. Jurij Makar  is an Ukrainian historian and political scientist. His reaserch interests focus on Polish-Ukrainian relations, history of Ukrainian diaspora, history of Poland and contemporary international relations in the region of Central and Eastern Europe. He is an author of over 300 books and articles. Since 2000 Prof. Makar has served as a Director of International Relations Departmnet at the Faculty of History, Political Science and Interrnational Relations of  Yuriy Fedkovych Chernivtsi National University (Ukraine) 

The award ceremony was preceded by Prof. Jurij Makar lecture on "State building process in contemporary Ukraine", within series of expert seminars organized by the UMCS East European Studies Program and the UMCS Center for Eastern Europe. Memebers of the Medal Committee, UMCS Rector Prof. dr hab. Stanislaw Michalowski and Director of  UMCS Center for Eastern Europe Prof. dr hab. Walenty Baluk took part in the ceremony.