We invite you to support the VU TSPMI initiative to build a library and collect a unique archive on the activities of one of the most prominent shapers of the 20th century USA foreign policy and a good friend of Lithuania Zbigniew Brzezinski.
Zbigniew Brzezinski (1928-2017) was a Polish-American scholar, professor and diplomat. From 1977 to 1981 Brzezinski was President Jimmy Carter’s National Security Advisor and supervised the USA foreign policy during a very complicated period. Brzezinski was not only an exceptional diplomat – in 1953 he received his Ph. D. at Harvard University, where he later taught. In 1960 he started working in Columbia University as the head of the Institute of Communist Affairs.
After ending his political career, Brzezinski resumed his academic activities, taught at Columbia University, later moved to Johns Hopkins University. While visiting Lithuania in 1998, Brzezinski was awarded the Vilnius University honorary doctorate degree. The professor was an extraordinary personality and a loyal friend of Lithuania and the whole Europe who aimed at strengthening the partnership of the USA and Europe and strongly supported Lithuania’s membership in NATO. During his visits in Vilnius he also participated in discussions with the institute’s scholars.
The VU TSPMI Council decided to honor the diplomat by naming one of the auditoriums in the name of Z. Brzezinski and by collecting archival materials on one of the most prominent USA’s diplomats and scholars. Having in mind Brzezinski’s relations with Lithuania and VU TSPMI, the most attention will be devoted to portraying his role in the negotiations on Lithuania’s entry to NATO, as well as his academic achievements. The renewed modern auditorium will house lectures by foreign lecturers and discussions with scholars, policy makers, and diplomats. In cooperation with Brzezinski’s relatives, a team of students led by docent Deividas Šlekys will collect an archive and a library.
This project’s budget of EUR 200,000 covers the costs of auditorium’s reconstruction and the collection of the archive and the library. For this project Vilnius University Foundation allocated 7 667 EUR from return on investment.
The patrons will be honored by having their names put on a special recognition plaque and in Zbigniew Brzezinski’s memorial visual compositions.
Take a look at auditorium photos here.
