Professor Edmund Chromiński (1874–1954)

Rector for the 1926–1928 term of office
Construction and utilisation of steam boilers, energy technology

He was born in Ryki n. Siedlce. He began his studies at the Faculty of Philosophy of the Jagiellonian University. In 1898, he transferred to the Faculty of Machine Construction of the Lviv Polytechnic National University. In 1901, he received a degree, travelled to Vienna, and became an assistant of the Vienna Association of Steam Boilers Custodianship. After establishing a branch in Krakow, he was nominated as the second boiler inspector.

Since 1921, he had been associated with the Mining Academy; initially as a contractual professor, but in 1922, he became a full professor. He lectured on thermodynamics, steam boilers, piston and electric machines (these classes were later renamed Theory of Machines II). In the years 1923–1926, he served as dean of the Faculty of Metallurgy; he was one of its first organisers. He contributed to the construction of a machine laboratory (1926). Together with Professor J. Krauze, he developed rules and regulations pertaining to the process of study at the Mining Academy. In the years 1928–1929, he was a vice-rector of the Mining Academy.

During the First World War, he was imprisoned in the Sachsenhausen concentration camp. After the war, he returned to giving lectures on Theory of Machines II.

Professor Chromiński is an authority on the construction and utilisation of steam boilers, especially with regard to heating issues. He conducted research on various types of coal to determine the nature of their combustion processes in the fireboxes of steam boilers. He authored a textbook titled Kotły parowe i ich obsługa [Steam boilers and their use], which, until 1952, was the only Polish book on the subject. He died in Krakow.