Martin Procházka, Rector of Palacký University Olomouc, visited Iowa and Minnesota. This was his first trip to the United States in his new role as President of the international university consortium Aurora, which he has taken on with the new academic year. At the start of his week-long trip, he was in Cedar Rapids to attend the culmination of the 50th anniversary celebrations of the National Czech and Slovak Museum and Library (NCSML). Also attending the celebration were Czech President Petr Pavel, Slovak President Peter Pellegrini, and many other distinguished guests.
“We are grateful to the Cedar Rapids museum and library for the opportunity to launch a scholarship fund that will allow us to support reciprocal exchanges of students and scholars between our university and universities in the United States. Iowa has been home to a strong Czech community for more than a century, and the museum’s partners and sponsors also support our fund named after Rector Emeritus Josef Jařab. In doing so, we are successfully fulfilling the legacy of our first post-communist rector, who helped Olomouc’s university to open cooperation with American schools three decades ago,” explained Martin Procházka.
The distinguished guests to meet the UP rector in Iowa included representatives of the University of Nebraska at Kearney, most importantly Rector Emeritus Douglas Kristensen, who developed and continues to support cooperation with UP – especially with the Faculty of Arts, but also with the Faculty of Law and Faculty of Health Sciences – for more than two decades.
In the second part of his short visit to the USA, the UP rector travelled to the neighbouring state of Minnesota, where he visited the University of Minnesota, with which European universities cooperate within the Aurora network international consortium. “The University of Minnesota is a prestigious and very dynamic research university. Its approach and focus on the same themes that we focus on in the Aurora Alliance is very beneficial for us and our European partners. As the president of the consortium, I am presenting the University of Minnesota management projects carried out in cooperation between the nine European universities involved in our network; we will also discuss possibilities for further cooperation,” said Procházka.
Aurora Alliance
The Aurora Alliance was established in 2020, bringing together nine top research universities from Germany, Italy, France, Spain, the Netherlands, Austria, Denmark, and Iceland. Palacký University became a fully-fledged member of this global consortium two years ago. The member universities, together with other affiliated universities, have a strong commitment to social impact and community engagement, collaborating in student and academic exchanges, and striving to increase the societal impact of their research activities.
National Czech and Slovak Museum and Library
NCSML focuses on Czech and Slovak history and culture and on Czech and Slovak emigrants and their descendants in the United States. The museum was founded in 1974. After the Velvet Revolution, Czechoslovak-American contacts expanded rapidly, and the museum began a project to build a new, larger building near the “Czech Village”, a local settlement populated by Czech emigrants since the 19th century. In 1995, the building was inaugurated by U.S. President Bill Clinton, Czech President Václav Havel, and Slovak President Michal Kováč.
University of Minnesota
The University of Minnesota is a public research university in Minneapolis and Saint Paul. The Twin Cities campus is home to over 50,000 students. It is one of the most prestigious public research universities in the USA and has long been ranked in the top 100 in international university rankings. Founded in 1851, it offers studies in engineering, medicine, law, veterinary medicine, and agriculture.
The preparations for the establishment of the Josef Jařab Scholarship Fund, which should be available to its first students and academics this year, are described here.