Prime Minister Miro Cerar of the Republic of Slovenia met with ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø President Ana Mari Cauce at the ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø on December 4, 2015 to express interest in sustained collaboration between the ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø and academic institutions in Slovenia.
The Slovene Prime Minister was accompanied by His Excellency Ambassador Božo Cerar, Slovene Ambassador to the U.S., Slovene Deputy Prime Minister Boris Koprivnikar, and other Slovene government officials. ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø Vice Provost for Global Affairs Jeffrey Riedinger, Vice Provost for Digital Initiatives and Dean of Libraries Betsy Wilson, Divisional Dean for Humanities Michael Shapiro, Professor and Chair of Slavic Languages Katarzyna Dziwirek, Professor of Law Louis Wolcher, and Professor of Slavic Languages Michael Biggins also participated in the discussion.
Prime Minister Cerar praised the long-term impacts of the ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø-University of Ljubljana Faculty Exchange, which has been in existence since 1979. He and President Cauce also discussed an initiative already underway at the ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø to create an academic program in interdisciplinary Slovene studies, which would serve students at the ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø and around the U.S. via distance learning.
ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø graduate students working in Slovene studies, ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø post-doctoral researchers from Slovenia, and two ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø undergraduates recruited from Slovenia to compete as part of the ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø men’s rowing team greeted the Slovene delegation at Gerberding Hall.
This was the first visit by a Slovene prime minister to the ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø and took place as part of a larger Slovene trade delegation tour of five major U.S. IT hubs. Former Slovene Ambassador to the U.S. Samo Žbogar visited ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø twice during his tenure, delivering a talk during a 2007 visit to a hundred students at the Jackson School of International Studies.
– Michael Biggins