With sincere gratitude to the University of Latvia

Every donation is equally important in helping University of Latvia (UL) researchers and students to carry out their projects, meanwhile increasing their scientific expertise, improving study environment and making sure everyone knows Latvia’s and UL’s name. The total support from American Latvians has been more than half a million US dollars. Since 2012, 29 scholarships have been granted to students from all fields of science, including Andrejs Pildegovičs Scholarship, created by Robert Blumbergs, intended for diplomacy students, Laimonis and Kristīna Laimiņš Family Scholarship in Microbiology, Andris and Betty Ramāns scholarship for special education teachers, Gunārs and Ināra Blumbergs scholarship for students of the Faculty of Law, the Mundheim Family Scholarship for distinguished students of the UL Faculty of Biology or Chemistry, also Pēteris A. Alunāns Family Scholarship, Vaira I. Pelēķis-Christopher Scholarship and other are worth mentioning.

Robert Blumberg, the President of “Friends of the University of Latvia“, shares his motivation on why he supports Latvian students: “My view on it is that Latvia’s future is based on an educated class of people. Therefore, I think it is very important that Latvia keeps educating their students, and at the “Friends of the University of Latvia”, it is our chief mission to help Latvian students gain an education so when they become contributing members of society, they will make the correct rulings to keep Latvia a prosperous and free country.”

In 2012, University of Latvia Business Incubator was created, and is so far the most major and successful project, helping students become outstanding businessmen. With John J. Medveckis initiative and a donation of 100 000 US dollars, the Business Idea Foundation was formed. Later that month Inese and Richard Driehaus also donated the same amount, summing up the donations to 200 thousands US dollars, collected in a single month. Over the course of 4 years, Antra, Bertrams and Kristaps Zariņš have supported students studying History at the UL, by donating around 100 000 US dollars. The patrons are keen to increase and strenghten the awareness among Latvians about the importance of history in the life of Latvia’s state and society.

A new donation platform www.friendslu.com has been created, enabling to continue supporting the University of Latvia with donations using your PayPal account or issuing a bank cheque. On the website, a compilation of past patrons and beneficiaries can be found, also descriptions of possibilities of how to support the UL in the future by choosing your favorite project. The website is available in both – Latvian and English. UL Foundation and FUL personally thanks “Turn Digital” Ltd and Pēteris Jurčenko for the successful cooperation and selfless support.

"I am proud of the University of Latvia Foundation’s cooperation with "Friends of the University of Latvia". During these years, 7 large-scale projects have been implemented, with the participation of many UL researchers and students from all 13 faculties. Many projects have been supported for several consecutive years. I am pleased that the bond, that has united the University of Latvia, its teaching staff and graduates, is strong. Evidence of the aforementioned are the patrons whose parents, grandparents were University lecturers or graduates of UL. I wish for other academic staff and graduates from UL to find the path to "Friends of the University of Latvia"," Laila Kundziņa, Executive Director and Board Member of the UL Foundation, shares her thoughts.