Jan Gałkowski
Jan Gałkowski helps academic communities and organizations address conflict, equity concerns, workplace culture, and ethical challenges through ombuds practice, mediation, policy development, and inclusive communication.
About Jan
Jan Gałkowski is an ombuds sociologist, ethicist, court-appointed mediator, and academic mediator specializing in employee mediation.
He teaches social theory, social ethics, and research ethics at the Institute of Sociology at the University of Rzeszów in Poland.
In 2022, Jan was appointed the first academic ombudsperson at the University of Rzeszów, building on his prior work supporting equal treatment, conflict resolution, and healthy academic culture.
Approach
Jan brings a thoughtful, interdisciplinary approach to ombuds work, drawing from sociology, applied ethics, mediation, and higher education.
He helps individuals and institutions navigate conflict, discrimination concerns, employee rights, inclusive communication, and difficult workplace or academic dynamics.
His work emphasizes fairness, respectful dialogue, psychological safety, and practical processes that support healthier work and study environments.
Background
From 2021 to 2022, Jan served as the Rector’s Plenipotentiary for Equal Treatment, where he was responsible for resolving conflicts connected to diversity, equity, and inclusion and for creating university policies and procedures to support a healthy work and study culture.
He is a member of the International Ombuds Association (IOA), the European Network of Ombudsmen in Higher Education (ENOHE), and the Anti-discrimination Education Society (TEA).
Jan is also a co-founder and board member of the Academic Network for Equality and Security (ASBiR).
He earned his Master’s degree at KU Leuven and his Doctorate at The John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin.
