The EHU Senate passed a unanimous decision to award the EHU Doctor Honoris Causa degrees to two outstanding political and academic leaders, who made it possible to revitalize the activity of EHU in Vilnius.
Dr. Hans-Gert Pöttering is the Chairman of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation (KAS), and a former member of the European Parliament (from 1979 to 2014). Being the President of the European Parliament from 2007 to 2009, Dr. Hans-Gert Pöttering gave the EHU active political support, helping the University to receive a wide international assistance, including continuous and generous support of the European Union – the largest donor of the EHU. As the Chairman of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, Dr. Hans-Gert Pöttering raised awareness about the EHU ensuring assistance towards the University.
Dr. Jonathan F. Fanton is the President of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. In 1999-2009 Dr. Fanton served as the President of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. During this decade MacArthur Foundation provided funds for developing EHU studies and research in Minsk and later was the sole only donor of EHU during the transition of the University towards obtaining a legal status in Lithuania in March 2006. Without the financial support of the MacArthur foundation, there was no realistic opportunity to re-establish EHU in Vilnius after University’s forced closure by Belarusian authorities in 2004.
The ceremony on awarding the degree of Doctor Honoris Causa to Dr. Hans-Gert Pöttering will take place during the EHU 25th Anniversary Gala ceremony on November 17 in Vilnius. Dr. Jonathan Fanton will be awarded on January 26, 2018.
During the 25 years of the University’s operations in Minsk and in Vilnius, EHU Doctor Honoris Causa degree was awarded to such distinguished figures as Prof. Krzysztof Zanussi, Prof. Sergey Averintsev, Prof. Algirdas Brazauskas, Prof. Nikolaus Wyrwoll, and others.