Jan Kříž

Jan Kříž was born on 14 December 1974 in Hradec Králové, in what was then Czechoslovakia, and described himself as a native of the city.

He studied at the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics of Charles University in Prague, in the programme of theoretical physics, astronomy and astrophysics. He received his master's degree in 1998, his PhD in 2003 and the RNDr. degree in 2004. In 2015 he completed his habilitation in the theory of physics education at the Faculty of Science of the University of Hradec Králové, becoming a docent (associate professor). He spent about ten years in Prague in all, studying and working, before returning to Hradec Králové.

From 2001 to 2003 Kříž worked in the department of theoretical physics of the Nuclear Physics Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences in Řež near Prague. In 2003 he joined the physics department of the Faculty of Education at the University of Hradec Králové, which became part of the newly founded Faculty of Science in 2010. He led the department of mathematical physics in 2010 and 2011, was vice dean for science and external relations, head of the department of physics from 2011 to 2015, and vice dean for research from 2015 to 2016.

From July 2016 to February 2019 he was the university's vice rector for strategy and development. On 1 March 2019 he became dean of the Faculty of Science, having been elected unanimously by its academic senate, and he was re-elected in 2022. On taking office he said the faculty needed to invest in people and attract young researchers from home and abroad.

In December 2023 he stood for rector against the former rector Josef Hynek and won 17 of 23 valid votes in the academic senate. President Petr Pavel appointed him on 27 June 2024, and he took office on 1 July 2024 as the sixth rector of the university, succeeding Kamil Kuča.

His research dealt with mathematical methods in quantum physics, quantum waveguides, quantum mechanics with deformations and the analysis of time series from medical diagnostic devices. He was the author of more than 50 publications listed in Web of Science, sat on the scientific boards of several Czech faculties, including the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics of Charles University, and served on the editorial boards of the Czechoslovak Journal of Physics and Rozhledy matematicko-fyzikální.

Kříž devoted much of his career to gifted students. From 2007 he accompanied Czech teams to the International Physics Olympiad, he chaired the central committee of the Czech Physics Olympiad, acted as the Czech physics mentor at the European Union Science Olympiad, which was twice held in Hradec Králové, and served on the advisory committee of the president of the International Physics Olympiad from 2014 to 2017.

A member of the Civic Democratic Party (ODS), he was second on its list in the 2022 municipal elections and was elected to the Hradec Králové city council. He stood unsuccessfully for the regional assembly of the Hradec Králové Region in 2024.

Kříž met his wife, Michaela Křížová, at a student hall of residence while studying in Prague; she came from Znojmo and also became a physicist, training teachers to make physics lessons lively and practical. They married in Hradec Králové about two years after returning there together, and they had two children. Asked in 2023 what they considered their greatest success, both answered that it was a happy family and two healthy children.

He loved to travel and had visited every continent except Australia, with a particular affection for Japan, which he visited often from 2004. The couple preferred active holidays, hiking and cycling.

In November 2025 Kříž told the university community, in a statement shared by the university, that he had been diagnosed with an oncological illness and was undergoing intensive treatment, including chemotherapy, at the University Hospital Hradec Králové. He said his work and his family motivated him to fight, and he remained in office as rector.

He died on Wednesday 21 October 2026, aged 51. The University of Hradec Králové announced his death the same day, writing that he had compared his struggle in the last months of his life to a hockey match, and that although he did not win his last game, his determination, strength and fighting spirit would never stop inspiring his colleagues. The university set up a memorial place in the meeting room of the rector's office on Rokitanského Street, open to the public until the funeral. The place of death was not stated in the announcement.

The university described Kříž as an established expert, a leader in work with talented young people and an experienced manager, and above all as a fair and upright man who could carry crowds with his enthusiasm for meaningful things. He spent more than two decades at the University of Hradec Králové, helping to build its Faculty of Science from its founding in 2010 and leading the whole university as rector. Through the Physics Olympiad and other competitions, he helped generations of gifted Czech students reach the international stage.