| SVU |
CZECHOSLOVAK SOCIETY OF ARTS AND SCIENCES |
Focus on Younger Generation
Notable Young People
Send your information to: rechcigl@aol.com
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Katherine David-Fox (1964-) She is the daughter of historian Zdenek David. She was born in 1964 in Ann Arbor, MI, and was raised in Washington, DC. She graduated from Princeton University, summa cum laude, with an A.B. in Slavic Languages and Literatures and a certificate in Russian Studies. She received a Ph.D. in history from Yale University in 1996. David-Fox has made several research trips to the Czech Republic and she studied Czech language and literature at the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet in Munich in 1988-1989. She has held a Mellon Fellowship and grants from IREX, the American Council of Learned Societies, the Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst (DAAD), and the Woodrow Wilson Center. Currently she holds the position of assistant professor in the Department of History at Ohio State University.
She has published articles on the Czech symbolist poet Antonin Sova and on the Czech feminist movement in the pre-World War I period. David-Fox recently presented " ‘Boyish Tricks' and the End of Noblesse: The Political and Literary Rebellion of the Czech 1890s Generation" in the Distinguished Lecturers Colloquium Series, Directions in Russian and East European Studies, at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign; "Prague-Vienna, Prague-Berlin: Two Visions of Czech Modernism" at the Woodrow Wilson Center, Washington, DC; and "Two Models of a Party of Youth," at the American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies National Convention. She has also participated in panels on the conflict in the former Yugoslavia. Currently, she is preparing a book manuscript on Czech modernists and national identity in the 1890s.
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Peter Fryscak has been in Europe since 1995. He is a Senior Associate with the AIG New Europe Fund, the largest private equity fund for Central and Eastern Europe. Although now based in Warsaw, Poland, he travels frequently to Prague and Budapest, where he also helps the Fund look for internet investments. Prior to moving into venture capital, Peter worked in Central Europe Trust, a strategy and finance advisory firmspecializing in Central Europe. Peter received his M.S. in Computer Science from New York University (1989) and his M.B.A. from University of North Carolina (1995).
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Francis Fryscak has recently moved to California, and is currently working as an Associate in the Antitrust Department of Cooley Godward LLP in Palo Alto. Previously, he worked for Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom in New York City, also in Antitrust Law. Francis was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa in 1989, and in 1990 graduated magna cum laude from the College of Arts and Science of New York University. He received his professional degree (J.D., cum laude ) in 1993 from New York University School of Law. In 1990, Francis spent the summer teaching English at the Institute of the Czech Language of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic. In October of 1993, he was invited by the Law School of Palacky University in Olomouc to deliver a lecture, in Czech, on Antitrust Law in the United States. Note: Peter and Francis are the sons of our members, Prof. Milan Fryscak and Eva Stepankova Fryscak.
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Jeremy Iggers - Jeremy Iggers' career has combined his two primary interests: journalism and philosophy. Currently the restaurant critic for the Star Tribune (Minneapolis-St. Paul), he previously wrote an ethics column for the newspaper, and was creator and coordinator of the Star Tribune's Minnesota's Talking Roundtables. In 1990, his series of articles about global food issues, ''Feeding a Hungry Planet,'' was awarded the Overseas Press Club of America's Madeline Dane Ross award, and in 1994, his series ''The Neighborhood Tool Kit'' was recognized by the Minneapolis Chamber of Commerce with a Quality of Life Award. Other honors include a Salzburg Fellowship (1995), a Center for Arts Criticism Artists Travel Grant (1996), and Bush Foundation Leadership Fellowship (1997). He will spend the spring of 2000 at Oxford University as this year's American recipient of the Reuters Journalism Fellowship. The Bush Fellowship has enabled Iggers to pursue a second career as a public philosopher, which includes writing books and articles on philosophical issues for a general audience, conducting public philosophical conversations at a local cafe, and developing a private philosophical consulting practice. Books include Garden of Eating: Food, Sex and the Hunger for Meaning '(Basic Books, 1996) - winner of a Minnesota Book Award and Good News, Bad News: Journalism Ethics and the Public Interest'' (Westview, 1998) as well as The Joy of Cheesecake' (with Dana Bovbjerg, Barron's, 1980), The Detroit Free Press Cookbook' (with Nettie Duffield, 1984), and Jeremy Iggers' Guide to Twin Cities Restaurants (1991). He has also written for Martha Stewart Living, Gourmet, Cuisine, Bon Appetit, Swissair Gazette, Travel/Holiday, and the Utne Reader. Iggers has a B.A. in Philosophy from Carleton College (1973), and a PhD. in Philosophy from the University of Minnesota (1993). He has taught courses in philosophy and journalism at Metropolitan State University (Minneapolis .-St. Paul) and the University of Minnesota, and was a visiting instructor at Stanford University. Thanks to his mother, Wilma Abeles(ova) Iggers, a native of the Czech Republic (from the area of Horsovsky Tyn), he grew up with a strong appreciation of his Czech Jewish heritage.
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Vera Kovacovic . In her own words: This statement, is in response to Professor Rechcigl's invitation to write something about myself, my connection to SVU, and my doctoral dissertation "Vaclav Havel, His Message and its Meaning: A Hermeneutic Study,"which I just defended.
I was born in the former Czechoslovakia, in Gottwaldov, renamed after 1989 to its original name, Zlin. I graduated from specialized high school in Brno, in the area of costume design for theater and movie productions. I did my internship and started working at the Barrandov Film Studios in Prague, at the time which is considered to be the great period of the Czech cinema of the 60s.Some classic examples are: Closely Watched Trains (Ostre sledovane vlaky), The Loves of one Blonde (Lasky jedne plavovlasky), Marketa Lazarova, The Garden Party (Zahradni slavnost), The Shop on the Main Street (Obchod na korze), and many others.
In the meantime I got involved in a pen-pal situation, which eventually resulted in getting married and emigrating to the United States, in January 1968. I have lived in California, where my two children were born, now 28 and 25. From California we moved to Minnesota, where I became a French high school teacher. When my life and circumstances changed again, I met Professor Josef Mestenhauser, who appeared in my life precisely at the moment which can be best described by the saying: ‘When the pupil is ready, the Master will appear.' He has become my academic advisor at the University of Minnesota, in the program of Comparative and International Development Education. He had also introduced me to the SVU organization, and we had both attended, me for the first time, the SVU World Congress in Prague, in 1994. It was an impressive experience.
Next, I would like to say more about my dissertation, which I did on Vaclav Havel. It is interesting to note, that when I decided the topic, I did not have any idea, that Havel would visit Minnesota in April of 1999. I took it as an affirmation and validation of my work. His visit was also a catalyst for SVU conference to take place in Minnesota. I was excited about chairing a panel on the perspectives of the younger generation, with respect to their Czech /Slovak/ American academic and personal interests and connections. We all benefitted from the presence of many prominent Czech government officials, who participated in the various panel discussions of the SVU conference. I was interested in the ‘Havel phenomena,' knowing well, that his popularity at home is low and getting lower. I was determined to find out what is it about him or his message, that people in the rest of the world find meaningful, to the extent to shower him with invitations, honorary degrees, prestigious prizes and awards. I chose to focus on Havel's visionary speeches and reflections of the nineties, because they are inspiring, thought-provoking, idealistic, at times disturbing, and deliberately repetitive. Havel is stubborn (in a positive sense) in his determination to use his celebrity status and visibility, to broadcast toaudiences all over the world his message - a warning of crisis, appeal for change, and voice of hope.
This format, has become ubiquitous not only for Havel, but for many politicians, writers, public speakers, especially as we are nearing year 2000. It allows the speaker or writer to situate his or her message at the cusp of a unique historical period and societal context, while emphasizing implications for the future.
Havel calls for a change in human consciousness, and the need to study, why we, as a civilization do nothing in face of imminent global threats and dangers. The conclusion of my study is really the beginning of much more exciting task: to show what is being done, and how change of consciousness is taking place, one individual, one institution at a time. In closing, I wish SVU the best in starting the new millennium with a bang - a stellar World Congress, in Washington, D.C., year 2000. Vera Kovacovic, Ph.D.
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Dan and Tom Mucha Two of SVU's youngest members, Dan and Tom Mucha, recently helped to put together a business in Prague that aims to bring some of America's Internet energy and services to the Czech Republic and central and eastern Europe. In the Spring of 1999, Dan left his job with the East West Institute to co-found Globopolis, Inc., which also owns the new Globe Bookstore and Internet Coffeehouse. Tom left his translations career in Prague to take leadership of the production of the web site. Some information about their venture . .
Globopolis.com (http://www.globopolis.com) is a lifestyle and leisure website consisting of localized, multi-lingual city guides to Central and Eastern Europe, including Prague and Bratislava. Globopolis.com provides users with up-to-date, easy to use information, through partnerships with local information providers, on restaurants, clubs, movies, theaters, opera, and much more, in local languages as well as in English and German. Globopolis.com aims to consolidate the information gathering and decision making processes in one place, allowing its users to make transactions based on the information they find on the site.
Globopolis.com (http://www.globopolis.com) jsou webove stranky o zivotnim stylu, kulture, cestovani a turistice, slozene z mnohojazycnych pruvodcu jednotlivych metropoli stredni a vychodni Evropy. Prostrednictvim spoluprace s mistnimi informacnimi providery poskytuje Globopolis.com uzivatelum nejnovejsi informace o restauracich, klubech, kinech, divadlech, opernich predstavenich a dalsich udalostech, vzdy v reci prislusne zeme, dale pak v nemeckem a anglickem jazyce. Pro ziskavani informaci a nachazeni spravnych reseni, Globopolis.com plne vyuziva rozvoje internetu jako media pro vsechny, kdo ziji nebo pouze cestuji po mestech dane oblasti.
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Daniel Necas Born in the town of the real Budweiser Beer - Budvar, Ceske Budejovice (Budweis) in the Czech Republic, Daniel later moved to Prague where he attended the College of Liberal Arts (Filosoficka fakulta) at the Charles University. After finishing his Master's degrees (magistr filosofie) in modern philology (Czech and English) he enrolled in the PhD program at the Czech Department there.
At twenty seven he relocated to Wisconsin, U.S.A., the homeland of his wife Camille (also a member of the SVU) who had previously spent five years living in the Czech Republic. Following their arrival in the United States in 1999, Daniel explored the world of furniture delivery in a small town of Wisconsin for four months. Later he volunteered at the Immigration History Research Center of the University of Minnesota in Saint Paul. Three months later he was offered a part time position as a library and archives project assistant. As the need to support family of four was becoming more and more urgent, he accepted a full time position of administrative/clerical assistant at the same institution. After two years in the United States and almost two years of service and obtaining experience at the IHRC, Daniel became its Assistant Curator in July 2001. Between July 2000 and July 2001, Daniel also worked as a part time Archives Assistant at the University Archives/Area Research Center of the University of Wisconsin-River Falls.
Utilizing his experience in library science, teaching both high school and college, linguistics, literary and historical research, Daniel enjoys working with the collections of the IHRC including the Czech and Slovak as well as other Slavic American collections.
Daniel's areas of interest include library science, cultural history, migration studies, literature, linguistics, translation, book art, typography, fine arts, travel. Favorite cities of the world are Chicago, IL, the Minneapolis/Saint Paul area, MN, Washington, DC, Roma, Italy, Praha, Ceske Budejovice and Cesky Krumlov, Czech Republic.
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Martin Rocek (1954-) and Thomas Rocek (1956-) They are the sons of Jan and Eva Rocek and came to the USA at the age of six and four resp., in a somewhat unorthodox way, namely when their family escaped from Communist Czechoslovakia by jumping from a German ship into the water of the Danish harbor Gedser. The family received asylum in Denmark and within a few months moved to the United States, when their father, Jan Rocek, was offered a post-doctoral fellowship at Harvard University.
Martin Rocek received his A.B. and A.M. in 1975 and his Ph.D. in physics in 1979, all at Harvard University. He was a Junior Research Fellow at Sidney Sussex College at the University of Cambridge, England where he worked with Stephen Hawking (1979-81). He was a NSF Postdoctoral Fellow at the California Institute of Technology (1981-2) before joining the Institute for Theoretical Physics at the State University of New York at Stony Brook, where he holds the rank of Professor. In 1991 he was awarded a Guggenheim fellowship and spent a year at the Institute for Advanced Studies at Princeton. He has co-authored a book "Superspace or One Thousand and One Lessons in Supersymmetry" and co-edited (with Stephen W. Hawking) "Superspace & Supergravity". He has authored or co-authored over 100 scientific papers in the area of supergravity, string theory and mathematical physics. He is married to Ute Moll, Associate Professor of Pathology at the SUNY Stony Brook Medical School, and they have two sons aged 12 and 9.
Thomas Rocek graduated summa cum laude from Princeton University in 1977, was elected to Phi Beta Kappa and awarded a National Science Foundation Predoctoral Fellowship. He earned a Ph.D. in Anthropology from the University of Michigan in 1985, was awarded a Weatherhead Fellowship and spent a year at the School of American Research in Santa Fe, N.M. After one year as Assistant Professor at Oregon State University (1986-7) he joined the Anthropology Department of the University of Delaware where he holds the rank of Associate Professor. He received a number of research grants, the latest a three year National Science Foundation grant in support of his excavations project of an ancient Indian settlement near Lincoln, N.M. He authored two books, "Navajo Multi-Household Social Units" and "The Henderson Site Burials" (w. J.D. Speth) and co-edited (w. Ofer Bar-Yosef) "Seasonality and Sedentism". In addition he published a number of journal articles. He is studying the relation between the transition from nomadism to sedentism and from hunting-gathering to agriculture. He is married to Karen Rosenberg, Associate Professor of Anthropology at the University of Delaware, and has two daughters aged 13 and 10.
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Mark Slouka (1958-) He is the son of Past President Zdenek Slouka. He was born in New York City and obtained his education at Columbia College (B.A. 1980), and Columbia University (M.A. 1981, M. Phil 1983, and PhD. 1987). After some 15 years of teaching American and comparative literature and history of culture at several universities, second-generation SVU member Mark Slouka has now returned to his alma mater, Columbia University, fluent in spoken Czech and with rather substantial knowledge of Czech literature, previously was Preceptor at Columbia, Teaching Fellow at Harvard, received a two-year full-time Mellon Scholar Research Award at the Center for Advanced Studies at the University of Virginia, taught at Penn State and for the last nine years (1990-99) at the University of California San Diego.
At Columbia, as of September 1999, Slouka will hold a regular professorial appointment in the Division of Writing at the School of Arts. Columbia offered him the position on the basis of his pedagogical performance (the Harvard-Danforth Distinction in Teaching Award in 1966 and again in 1989, and the Outstanding Teaching Award from U. of California in 1994) and also on the basis of his own writing. Over the years, Slouka published several short stories and essays in Harper's Magazine (for one of them he received in 1995 The National Award for Short Fiction) and in a number of literary journals -- The Georgia Review, Epoch, the New Statesmen and Society, Emerson Society Quarterly, the American Transcendental Quarterly and others, and a chapter in Tolstoy's Dictaphone: Technology and the Muse (Sven Birkerts, ed., Graywolf Press, 1996).
His first full-length book, War of the Worlds: Cyberspace and the High-Tech Assault on Reality (Basic Books, 1995) a provocative polemic in the study of culture, has been translated into Japanese, Chinese and Korean, published separately in Great Britain, and is yet to appear in Portuguese and in a Czech translation. His second book, Lost Lake (Alfred A. Knopf, 1996), a collection of short fiction, received wide acclaim and has gone into additional printing. Currently, under a contract with Knopf, Slouka is completing a full-length novel under a working title Shadow: The Lost Diary of Chang-eng, to be completed in December 1999.In most of Slouka's writings, a sensitive reader finds distinct traces of his Czech ancestral origin and Czech cultural roots, literary as well as experiential.
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Jitka and Ron
Stiles: A Youthful Czech-Canadian
In 1996, a very energetic young Czech lady named Jitka Tomanova came overseas to study and
work with Dr. Michael Stiles in his food microbiological laboratory in Edmonton, Alberta,
Canada. As she would have been left alone over Christmas, far from her family in Mnichovo
Hradiste (60 km north of Prague), Dr. Stiles invited Jitka to spend the Christmas holiday
with his family in Whitefish, Montana, U.S.A. There she met Ron Stiles who was eager to
learn all about her including her Czech language, traditions and culture. This explains in
part why a Canadian without Czech origins is so involved in Czech heritage and culture to
this day in Lincoln, Nebraska, U.S.A.
At the end of June 1997, Ron moved to Prague in the Czech Republic and married Jitka a year later. By November 1999, Jitka was finishing her Ph.D., and had been hired by four different universities to do her post-doctorate research. Lincoln was the city where they both could work, Jitka at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UN-L) as a research associate, and Ron teaching English Language Learners in Lincoln Public Schools, which explains how they came to live in Nebraska.
The state of Nebraska has a large Czech population, and it was not long before Jitka and Ron ade enough contacts to become members of the Nebraska Czechs of Lincoln and join their monthly meetings. They became actively involved by presenting a traditional Czech wedding ceremony and customs for this group, Jitka giving a lecture on Czech culture, and they later contributed to the group's 2000 Christmas party by providing hand-painted, mouth-blown Czech ornaments to the members.
Further, since UN-L offers a Czech language program, Ron enrolled for the spring semester starting January 2000, along with taking a graduate level Special Education course as required by Nebraska Teacher's Certification. This effectively began his Masters Degree and secured his status for the next two years as a student at UN-L. As such, Ron was able to accept the nomination by Katya Koubek, his Czech Language instructor, and Dr. Mila Saskova-Pierce (the enthusiastic director of the Czech Language Program), to be the President of the Czech Komensky Club, a non-profit student organization in which capacity he is currently serving for a second year.
The Czech Komensky Club, humbly named after Jan Amos Komensky, the "Teacher of Nations", has been continuously active in Nebraska since 1904, providing a celebration of Czech culture. As President, Ron (with profound help from Jitka) took it upon himself to liaison between the Nebraska Czechs of Lincoln and the Czech Komensky Club, thus promoting both to one another. The Czech Komensky Club publishes a newsletter entitled Nas svet (Our World) which has a circulation of almost 400, and deals with upcoming club events, Czech news around Nebraska, famous Czechs mini-biographies, and news from the Czech Republic. The club meets once every two weeks throughout the university year, providing guest lecturers, films, music, dance, and entertainment related to Czech history, language, and customs. At each meeting, the Komensky Club provides a supply of free soft drinks to its members.
Specific examples of recent Komensky Club meetings include: a presentation and
demonstration of Czech bagpipes (dudy); the Capital City Czech Choraliers, a Nebraska
polka band; a lecture on "Czechoslovakia During the Second World War"; an early
music ensemble named Dulces Voces to sing Czech Baroque music, a lecture on "The
Unique Culture of the Czech Republic" (by Jitka); the screening of the Czech film
"Hanele"; a Polka Party involving the history and instruction of the dance; and
separate lectures on Czech Christmas, and Easter (spring) traditions followed by a potluck
party with Czech-American foods. Jitka has managed to raise over $3000.00 during the
last year in grants offered to student organizations through UN-L to enable the Komensky
Club to pay for musicians, lecturers, event supplies, and official club T-shirts.
As a rolling snowball continues to get larger, so did Jitka and Ron's contacts to other Czech organizations. Dr. Mila Saskova-Pierce and her husband, Layne, solicited their help in a project of theirs – the Czech Heritage Digitalization Project. The aim of this undertaking is the digitalization and inventory of all items (including oral histories, books, toys, clothing, kitchenware, paintings, jewelry, photographs, etc.) of authentic Czech heritage that exist in Nebraska. In July, after returning form a month in the Czech Republic, Jitka and Ron began to attend meetings for the Czech Heritage Digitalization Project. Ron was able to obtain a $300.00 grant from the Center for Great Plains Studies in support it.
When Dr. Saskova-Pierce invited the former Czech Ambassador Dr. Alexandr Vondra to come to Nebraska at the beginning of August, 2000, Jitka and Ron were honored to able to meet with him personally to discuss the activities of the Komensky Club, and the Digitalization Project. When the new academic calendar year began at UN-L, Mondays alternated between meeting for this project and the Komensky Club meetings from September through October 2000.
Soon after the former ambassador's visit, Dr. Saskova-Pierce and Cathleen Oslzly
conceived the idea and pitched it to members of the Czech Heritage Digitalization Project
to bring the Czechoslovak Society of Arts and Sciences (SVU) 2001 North American
Conference to Lincoln. Once granted this opportunity, Jitka and Ron began close
collaboration with other groups – this time, the Czech Language Foundation, and the
Nebraska Czechs of Wilber. As such, they became members of the SVU and were involved from
the outset offering suggestions, ideas, and support as members of the organizational
committee. From October 2000 through August 2001, planning for the Czech Heritage
Digitalization Project was suspended in favor of preparations for the SVU Conference.
The Komensky Club was again awarded a grant, this time in the amount of $1000.00, to
enable it to become a sponsoring organization of the conference. Jitka and Ron spread
flyers, called the newspaper in order to enhance the publicity of the conference, and
continued to spread the word through the Komensky Club, Nas svet, and at Nebraska Czechs
of Lincoln meetings. Moreover, Jitka attended the Governor of Nebraska's
Proclamation that August first through the third, 2001 is "Czechoslovak Society of
Arts and Sciences Days". She was able to arrange a Czech movie entitled "Musime
si pomahat" (given the English title "Divided We Fall"), nominated for an
Academy Award for Best Foreign Film, to be brought to Nebraska for special screening
during this conference; and booked the Baroque vocal group Dulces Voces to perform.
To kick-off the SVU conference, Ron was one of the Masters of Ceremonies at the
Wednesday night reception, and sang the Canadian national anthem at the opening
ceremonies. Both Jitka and Ron were panel chairs and presented papers during the
conference. Jitka chaired the panel on Czech and Slovak Contributions to Medicine
and the Life Sciences, contributing the paper "Positive and Negative Aspects of Molds
in the Food Industry". Ron chaired the panel on The Assimilation and Acculturation of
Youth, explaining his perspective on "Language: The First Target of
Assimilation". He hopes to have this paper published in "Kosmas". Ron also
organized and chaired the free-form Poetry reading session. Finally, the Czech Komensky
Club was proud to provide cold soft drinks to accompany the kolace and coffee breaks
provided by other sponsoring organizations throughout the conference.
Since the SVU conference, Jitka and Ron have resumed their duties with the Czech
Heritage Digitalization Project, archiving the Czech artifacts from the "Wall of
Remembrance", which were gathered and displayed at the Great Plains Art Collection.
Jitka is also preparing to teach the intermediate Czech class at UN-L for the
2001-2002 academic year. Within a few days, Jitka and Ron plan to meet again with
the conference organizational committee to assist in founding a new SVU chapter here in
Lincoln. Although as yet undecided, it is likely they will serve as officers in the new
chapter.
Unfortunately, Jitka and Ron Stiles will be leaving Nebraska to return to the Czech
Republic in the fall of 2002. They will be leaving behind many great friends and a legacy
of collaboration, which they hope will continue long after they have left. In the mean
time, there are still ongoing projects keeping them busy, and many more people to meet and
work along side with. By working together in cooperative groups, we can achieve great
things, but musime si pomahat.
The Stiles' are looking forward to seeing and meeting you at the SVU World Congress in Plzen, Czech Republic, 2002.
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Ivan Tkac, son of the Bratislava SVU Chapter President, Prof. Alexander Tkac, was born in 1954 in Bratislava. His father, professor of physical chemistry and excellent scientist, had a strong impact on his life career. Ivan followed his footsteps and studied physical chemistry at Comenius University where he also received his PhD. degree. Then he moved to the Slovak Academy of Sciences, because the University was not interested in utilizing his skills and knowledge since he was not a member of the Communist Party. In the Institute of Inorganic Chemistry he got his first experience with nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. When in 1992 the new magnetic resonance (MR) center was founded in Derer's Hospital in Bratislava (first in Slovakia) he joined the newly created research team. He significantly participated in the establishment of the basis of in vivo MR spectroscopy in Slovakia.
In 1997 he accepted the University of Minnesota's offer and moved to the Center for MR Research in Minneapolis. This Center is one of the best in the world due to the state of art experimental technique and the highly experienced staff. Ivan is mostly involved in the development of spectroscopic methods for the noninvasive detection and quantification of the brain metabolites as well as the applications of the methods on animals (models of neurodegenerative diseases) and on humans (diabetes).Ivan's father is currently the president of the Slovak chapter of SVU in Bratislava. Ivan joined SVU last year and participated on the panel discussion organized as part of SVU conference in Minneapolis in 1999. He presented his ideas about the perspectives of research and science in Slovakia.
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Karel Zastera of West
Bohemia University in Pilsen, Czech Republic writes:
"I am sending you cordial greetings from the Czech Republic. I would also like to
thank you for your great interest in Czech culture, as well as for all those activities
through which you help to promote the Czech culture abroad.
I do greatly appreciate your work inasmuch as I am an anthropologist, ethnologist, and historian, whose focal point of interest and research is the life of the Czech ethnic group living abroad. I concentrate primarily on the US territory and hence I am well aware of the Czech-Americans' activities and their assistance in nurturing the good reputation of theCzech culture.
Currently, I work as a professor at the Department of Anthropology and the Director of International Relations Office of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences of the West Bohemia University in Pilsen. I have pursued studies at the several European universities; Charles University - Czech Republic, University of Zurich - Switzerland, University of Roskilde - Denmark, and in the US at the American University, and at Yale University. I have worked as a research scholar at the Department of Ethnography and Folklore Studies of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague and in the US at the National Museum of American History - Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC, as well as at the Immigration History Research Center of University of Minnesota. I have been awarded the Tempus Erasmus, Sasakawa Foundation, and the Fulbright grants. I am member of the Czechoslovak Society of Arts and Sciences and the European Association of Social Anthropologists. I have worked as a visiting professor capacity at Suffolk University, Boston and as an Assistant Professor at the Philosophical Faculty, Charles University in Prague.
During my visits in the US I have been engaged in the study of the Czech ethnic group living in the United States, which is the core of my scientific concern as of the moment, as well. I have cooperated with Czech societies in the Midwest area and in the East coast.
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