Ventspils University of Applied Sciences professors Juris Baldunčiks and Aigars Krauze celebrate birthdays

December 1, 2020

Ventspils University of Applied Sciences (VUAS) can be proud of experienced and knowledgeable lecturers, two of whom celebrated their birthdays in the second half of November. On 22 November, professor Aigars Krauze of VUAS Faculty of IT celebrated 70th birthday, while a week later, on 29 November, professor Juris Baldunčiks of VUAS Faculty of Translation Studies celebrated his 70th birthday.

Professor Aigars Krauze was born in Rūjiena, graduated from the Riga Polytechnic Institute with a degree in radio engineering and in 1992 obtained a doctor's degree in engineering. Before starting his career in Ventspils, professor Krauze worked at the Latvian Academy of Sciences and the Latvian Academic Library. Before starting his career in VUAS, A. Krauze was the director of Ventspils Library. He began working at VUAS on 2 January 2006. Professor's first position at the university was a senior specialist of the Engineering Research Centre of VUAS. Since 2012, he has been the head of the professional master's programme Electronics and, in addition to working with students, has been the acting rector and repeatedly gained the trust of his colleagues. Students and colleagues highly value Professor Krauze, and his expertise and experience are fundamental for VUAS.


There's no doubt that the quality of VUAS studies depends on the teaching staff and experienced professors. Professor Juris Baldunčiks is one of them who has been in the university since day one. Having just celebrated his 70th birthday, the professor started working at VUAS since its establishment in 1997. He was born in Jēkabpils, graduated from the State University of Latvia, Faculty of Foreign Languages, Department of English Language and Literature. He has worked in Latvian Academy of Sciences and the University of Latvia, in 1997 he started working in VUAS as an associated professor. While working at VUAS, in addition to working with students, professor Baldunčiks has been the head of the Department of English and Centre for Applied Linguistics. The professor has paid great attention to bringing language issues to the attention of society by participating in events dedicated to language, conducting educational lectures for a wider audience, as well as pointing out language issues in the mass media. We should mention that professor Baldunčiks is also a sports enthusiast and, in the past, he played basketball and did powerlifting. 


The work of both professors in the development of VUAS is invaluable. The knowledge accumulated over the years has given the university not only high-quality young specialists but also a stable thorough scientific performance which can be seen by looking at the list of professors`

publications. 


The staff of Ventspils University of Applied Sciences wishes professor Aigars Krauze and professor Juris Baldunčiks to achieve new excellence in scientific work, to continue training world-class young specialists and to have a relentless joy of life.

Aigars Krauze

Juris Baldunčiks

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