AUBG Today Magazine Summer 2009

The Magazine of the American University in Bulgaria

Issue 42, Summer 2009

Liberal Arts Education at AUBG Read the inspiring stories of students and faculty

IN THIS ISSUE: Gregory Prince, Member of the AUBG Board of Trustees:

Commencement 2009

Liberal Arts Is an Attitude

AUBG Recognizes Its High-Achieving Students

Tchaprachikoff Scholarships Help AUBG Students Attend Top Graduate Schools

Computer Science at AUBG: Dynamics, Challenges, and Success

The Philanthropist Georgi Protogerov:

“Think Freely, grow upward�

The largest AUBG graduating class ever received diplomas at Commencement Ceremony on May 17, 2009.

Editorial Board Pavlina Stoycheva Sylvia Zareva Albena Kehayova

Consulting Editors John Mullen Phelps Hawkins

Student Writers

Simona Atanasova Svetozara Davidkova Petya Dineva Boryana Gotsova Antoniya Parapanova Yavor Stratev Ana Tzalovska

Photos

The world’s best musical, West Side Story premiered on April 10, 2009. West Side Story was AUBG’s second offering after last year’s successful rendition of Chicago.

Asen Dimitrov Radina Efremova Vladimir Epuri Albena Kehayova Teophan Konstantinov Marin Shagov Raman Shalupau Yulia Shenderovich Valentin Velikov Sylvia Zareva Published by AUBG with the participation of AUBG student writers. Fore more information please see the contact information on the back.

Copyright 2009 AUBG. All rights reserved.

AUBG Olympics, April 26, 2009 - an annual event that is organized by students and consists of 14 different disciplines.

Contents: HONORS CONVOCATION AUBG Recognizes Its High-Achieving Students Vaska Dimitrova, Presidential Medalist 2009: “Be Engaged!”

Boryana Atanassova: “Aim High, Achieve Higher” Vasile Valcov: I Have a Calling to Serve the Community Nora Georgieva: “Make Your Own Choice!”

Margarita Dimova: Poet, Actress, Traveler

2 4 5 6 8 9

COMMENCEMENT 2009 U.S. Ambassador Greets AUBG Class of 2009, Cites President Barack Obama in Charge to Graduates Margarita Dimova: Senior Speech, May 17, 2009

10 12

ACADEMICS AUBG Creates Open-minded Economists with a Flexible Vision Teaching Math and Science at AUBG Liberal Arts at AUBG: True or False?

Computer Science at AUBG: Dynamics, Challenges, and Success

13 14 15 16

NEWS AND EVENTS AUBG Celebrates Its Diversity Musicals Are No Longer a Trademark of Broadway Theater Annual Olympic Games Brought to AUBG Thanks to Students

18 20 21

STUDENT LIFE Debating at AUBG: “There Are No Bad Speakers – Only Great Speakers in the Making” First Model United Nations Simulation – A Practice for the Real World AUBG Connects Liberal Arts Education with Career Success AUBG Griffins Host Landmark American Football Tournament

22 23 24 25

ALUMNI HIGHLIGHTS Career Education and the Liberal Arts Reach for the Stars

26 27

EMBA Nastimir Ananiev: Never Stop Learning!

Leadership Style and Cultural Differences, or When in Rome…

29 30

BOARD NEWS Gregory Prince: Liberal Arts Is an Attitude

31

DEVELOPMENT MATTERS Founding Father’s Name Graces First Named Building at AUBG The Philanthropist Georgi Protogerov: “Think freely, grow upward” Tchaprachikoff Scholarships Help AUBG Students Attend Top Graduate Schools

32 34 36

1

HONORS CONVOCATION

AUBG Recognizes Its High-Achieving Students

By Ana Tzalovska

A highlight of every spring is the University’s recognition of exceptional work by its students.

AUBG celebrated the academic excellence of more than a third of its uniquely-diverse student body during the sixteenth annual Honors Convocation on April 12, 2009. The Honors Convocation is a traditional ceremony for AUBG at which professors and administrators recognize and honor the accomplishments of the most hard-working and high-achieving students. Outstanding seniors in all major programs at AUBG, as well as students with a demonstrated commitment to the ideals of liberal arts education, contest winners, and those who have obtained the highest academic scores, received certificates for their achievements.

AUBG president David Huwiler opened the ceremony saying, “The students recognized here today have worked hard to achieve distinction, assisted by an able and talented faculty and staff. We applaud their achievements and look forward with hope and pride to the futures of these fine students.”

AUBG students were recognized in a number of categories. President Huwiler greeted the 128 students who have achieved the distinction Presidential Scholar, saying, “In order to qualify for this designation, a student must have a cumulative grade point average of between 3.8 and 4.0 on a fourpoint scale after the completion of at least two semesters at AUBG.” He then asked the Presidential Scholars to rise for an ovation by their fellow students and professors.

2

AUBG Today, Issue 42

Another high academic honor at AUBG is the Dean’s List of Scholars, those who have achieved a semester grade point average of 3.8 and 4.0. Over 256 students are on the Dean’s List.

Dean of Faculty Steven Sullivan recognized and gave certificates to the Outstanding Seniors in the 9 major programs at AUBG, saying that “those receiving awards are distinguished not just by their academic achievements, but also by their intellectual curiosity and enthusiasm for the chosen fields.” More than 40 students received the honor. The Valedictorian of AUBG’s Class of 2009, Igor Letina, from Bosnia and Herzegovina, was recognized as Outstanding Senior in Economics and Political Science/International Relations. He has been awarded a full Graduate Merit Scholarship to attend the Master of Science program in Economics at Bocconi University in Milan.

Tetyana Kushniruk from Ukraine was the Instrumental Music honoree for her amazing piano performances. Tetyana was also recognized as an Outstanding Senior in Journalism and Mass Communication.

HONORS CONVOCATION

The Al Cyrus Theater Award was shared by Petya Petrova and Sijka Doneva, Bulgarian seniors.

Petya is a keen actor while Sijka has directed numerous plays at AUBG. Sijka also directed and wrote the script to the first movie shot by AUBG students. The cast of the movie Balkanska Banitsa includes students, a few professional actors, and Bina Sanders, mayor of a village in Blagoevgrad’s district. The plot of the film is simple, yet it shows how complicated family relations in Bulgaria and on the Balkans are. In short, young Bulgarians, all cousins, brothers and sisters spread around the world in search of good fortune come together after years of separation. After each of them has been notified that their grandparents have died, the young people return to a village in Bulgaria to divide the land, house, and animals they all inherited. Unprecedented fights and hidden agendas over the division of the legacy follow, all leading to a twist at the end of the film.

The Computer Science Department at AUBG holds a programming competition each year and the winners of the 2009 AUBG Programming contest are Vasil Vasilev and Ergys Ristani. Apart from winning the programming competition, freshman Ergys from Albania has achieved an even greater accomplishment with his programming skills. Ergys and his friends Deni Vangjeli and Genti Tola, also first-year students from Albania, made online voting for the Student Government at AUBG a reality. The idea which originated in Ergys’s mind was to create a program for online voting for the 2009 Student Government presidential elections. In two weeks Deni, Genti, and Ergys came up with a complete electronic voting system, without the supervision of a faculty member. Prior to the elections, the programmers

Ergys Ristani’12 - second place of the 2009 AUBG Programming Contest and creator of the first online voting system for AUBG. Ergys Ristani also ranked 12th in the Robotics and Algorythms category at the Microsoft Imagine Cup 2009 competition. Almost 60,000 university students participated in the competition.

did a test voting to ensure smooth elections for the AUBG community. Creating a program that allowed students to elect their government via the internet made it easier to cast and count the votes. Turnouts of the elections showed higher participation on behalf of the students compared to previous years when ballots were cast in boxes. One of the advantages of the online voting system, Genti says, is that “we made it secure – we prevented one person from voting more than one time.” Deni considers it important that now “exchange students [who are currently not on campus] can cast their vote.” He also commented that “a very important aspect of the project was learning while working on it. I really enjoyed it.

You learn as you do something useful.” During the next academic year the three programming enthusiasts will embark upon improving the election system.

3

HONORS CONVOCATION

Vaska Dimitrova, Presidential Medalist 2009:

“Be Engaged!”

By Ana Tzalovska

The highlight of each year’s Honors Convocation ceremony is the announcement of the Presidential Medalist of the graduating senior class. “It gives me great pleasure to present today’s final award,” President Huwiler said. “This medal is given to recognize the graduating student who best exemplifies the ideals of the American University in Bulgaria… Please join me in congratulating Ms. Vaska Dimitrova, the 2009 Presidential Medalist.”

During her four years at AUBG, Vaska, a Macedonian national, has enjoyed a wide range of interests and activities. “Since I came here and saw how many opportunities and clubs there are for students to get involved in, I decided that academics was important to me, but I also wanted to engage myself outside the classroom,” Vaska said. “So I joined the Better Community club and the Student Ambassadors club. More opportunities came later, at the beginning of my junior year, when I got involved with the U8 club.”

The U8, as its title suggests, is a UK-based student network that deals with development issues and involves universities around the world. The club was founded by Cambridge and Oxford students.

“I was president of the AUBG Chapter of the U8 Global Student Partnership for Development club,” she added. Since AUBG was the only university from the Southeast European region, Vaska, and two other AUBG students, Zlatko Nojkov and Filip Taseski, organized the Bridging Perspectives for a Shared Future international conference in April 2008, which aimed at involving Southeast Europe’s universities in the activities of the U8 club.

Vaska’s commitment to service didn’t stop there, serving as vice president in the Student Government, as Student Representative to several committees, including the Student Outcomes and Assessment Committee, and assisting AUBG’s recruitment efforts in Macedonia.

Vaska also became a member of the Phi Beta Delta honorary society where she was mainly involved with organizing the International Week at AUBG. Outside of AUBG, Vaska has interned in Washington, D.C., at the U.S.-Russia Business Council.

4

AUBG Today, Issue 42

Vaska Dimitrova’ 09, Computer Science and Economics

Outstanding Achievement Award in Economics Outstanding Senior in Computer Science Vaska graduated not only with a Presidential Medal, but also with honors from the two major programs she completed at AUBG. Vaska received an award for Outstanding Achievement in Economics for the excellent research skills demonstrated in her senior thesis, while the Computer Science faculty recognized her overall excellence in the field.

“When I came to AUBG I started as a Computer Science major because I was always good with the science. Then I decided to pursue my second major in Economics because I like the theory behind it.

I am interested in the field of energy trading from the economics point of view. Actually, I wanted to be an electronic engineer. Since I am interested in energy, I did a senior thesis on a topic related to it,” Vaska said.

The topic of her thesis in Economics is Effect of transmission congestion on the volatility of electricity prices in the Nord Pool Electricity Market. “It was really fun to work on the thesis, and it was challenging, too, but I knew what I wanted to achieve, I also got to expand my knowledge in this field that I really like,” Vaska said.

Vaska was invited to present her senior thesis at the Carroll Round conference in Georgetown University, Washington, D.C. This is a very prestigious undergraduate level conference, at which students from leading universities such

Vaska is very enthusiastic about making a career in the field of energy trading. “For a long time I wasn’t sure what I wanted to study, what major I should pursue at AUBG, so once I found this field that I really enjoy, I just want to stick to it,” she said. “I am applying for traineeship programs with companies that do energy training. I would then apply for master studies in finance, in a field that would help me start a career in the energy sphere.”

HONORS CONVOCATION

as the London School of Economics, Warwick University, Princeton, Dartmouth, etc., present their research. Vaska and another senior, Hekuran Neziri, are the first AUBG students who were invited to participate. “We were so honored to be part of that conference,” Vaska said. The research of both AUBG students will be included in a journal containing papers from the conference and issued annually by Georgetown University. AUBG supported both Vaska and Hekuran in their trip to D.C.

Boryana Atanassova:

“Aim High, Achieve Higher”

By Simona Atanasova Boryana Atanassova’ 09 European Studies and Business Administration

Outstanding Achievement Award in

European Studies

“Inspire, Empower, Impact” is the motto and driving force of Boryana Atanassova, the first United Nations youth delegate from Bulgaria and a graduating senior at AUBG. A look at her list of accomplishments, awards and internships leaves the impression that she has been in several places at the same time. Boryana took a double major in European Studies and Business Administration, reaching a high level of excellence in both directions. She is also a fervent social activist and salsa dancer. How has she managed to find the inspiration and time for so many activities and achieving such high goals?

Boryana began her very first year at AUBG finding and joining the Latin American Dances and Culture club. Through numerous dance marathons, cultural evenings, and parties, the club involves not only students but also professors and staff members in an active form of cultural exchange. Boryana then established the first salsa group for blind people in Bulgaria, aiming to integrate blind people through dancing.

The United Nations and volunteerism have been her hobby since high school. She is one of the founders of the United Nations club at AUBG and a member of the AUBG team at Model UN conferences in China and the UK. During her second year, she secured funding and organized

the AUBG Balkan Parliament, which brought some 80 external participants and guests to AUBG. “I believe that a person is as big as one’s dreams. Thus, one of my mottos is ‘Aim high, achieve higher.’ ” Her aim was indeed high, as was her achievement, as she won a full scholarship from the Open Society Institute for one year at New York University. There Boryana explored her interest in finance, marketing, arts, and UN peace-keeping operations. Then, in 2007, she became an intern at the world body, attending UN negotiations and coordinating relations with other youth delegates.

Just months later she was selected as the first official UN youth delegate from Bulgaria, and she takes aim at creating “a self- and society-conscious youth.”

In September 2007 she, along with another AUBG-er, Snezhina Kovacheva, found the Youth Empowerment Initiative club, whose goal is to teach high school students project management and fund-raising strategy. Through collaboration with AUBG-ers the students manage to create six projects, which receive recognition from high school principals and the local community and media. Boryana says that YEI continues to develop and this year will include even Southwestern University students. Her hope is that the initiative

5

HONORS CONVOCATION

will turn into a tradition because, she says, it is crucial for furthering the relations with the Blagoevgrad community.

The deep involvement of Boryana with the issues of young people in her country leads her to the idea for institutionalization of the UN youth delegate in Bulgaria. Through the three campaigns – for national selection, publicity, and nationwide youth research – the program seeks to solve the problems of civic disengagement of the young people and to bring awareness of the importance of their voice in state decision-making. “Four years ago nobody in Bulgaria had heard about the UN youth delegate and my first attempts to lobby for the introduction were met only with skepticism and smiles,” Boryana explains. “However, through consistency, a lot of inspiration, enthusiasm, and patience, I have managed to turn this idea in reality […] The evolution of the idea best embodies one of my guiding principles: Think big, start small, scale fast.”

Boryana wants to pursue a career in management consulting or private equity. Recently, she successfully completed a summer internship in KPMG Financial Advisory and a traineeship at Deloitte Management Consulting. Since 2008, Boryana has worked as a freelance consultant at ClusterStar Management Consultancy, a student-based international network, in charge of developing their market entry strategy for the Bulgarian market.

Boryana Atanassova as the first ever official Bulgarian youth delegate, UN headquarters in NY, 2007

the project is not a typical one for this fund, the jury was impressed with its scope and scale. In addition, she received the award for Outstanding Achievement in European Studies at her last Honors Convocation at AUBG.

Vasile Valcov:

I Have a Calling to Serve the Community

By Petya Dineva

How does she do all that she does? “Liberal arts education at AUBG, with its wide exposure to different subjects (such as business, EU), has given me a vast framework for analysis of the intertwined economic, political, and business interests in an ever-globalizing world.” Boryana admits that AUBG will always remain as a crucial milestone in her life because she has grown enormously academically and personally, while making a lot of friends.

Her biggest inspiration? Boryana says it is seeing the real, on-the-ground impact and results of her involvement and initiative – the selection of two youth delegates this year, the group of blind people performing, or when high school students execute amazing projects from the YEI club.

This year she has won the Goldman Sachs Global Social Entrepreneurship Competition with her program for the UN youth delegate. Although

6

AUBG Today, Issue 42

Vasile Valcov’ 09 Business Administration

Outstanding Contribution to

University Shared Governance

Always in a rush, answering students’ requests, talking with the administration, doing his duty at the front desk... these were only part of every busy day for Vasile. He successfully combined his studies in Business Administration as a major and Economics as a minor with his extracurricular assignments.

“Students do not do it for the sake of the award,” he says. For him, the awards do not stimulate students to engage more in on-campus life. Instead, the prize is recognition of your contribution to the AUBG community.

The flexible system of liberal arts at AUBG has allowed Lika, as his friends call him, to take courses in different fields and broaden his knowledge. He appreciates the opportunity that students can select their professors and courses.

But, “the situation is not black and white” for Lika.

Students have different preferences for professors and their style of teaching. Lika discovered his interest in history and took several courses, even though it was not in his major or minor. The liberal arts system allows students to identify their interests during the first two years and declare a major even in their third year. Lika considers this to be one of the many benefits of the liberal arts system.

For Lika, academic achievements and extracurricular activities are equally important. “The interaction happens mostly out of the classroom,” as you approach professors, administration and students. The strong sense of community at AUBG encourages opportunities to apply the knowledge you get in class into the real world through the many campus activities.

As a president of the SG, Lika regularly met with administration staff and professors to represent students’ rights and demands. “I don’t see it as a confrontation; we work to achieve the same goal,” Lika explains. He considers the administration to be open-minded in terms of academic policy, staff hiring, and students’ rights.

The position of resident assistant allowed Lika to communicate regularly with and help students.

Lika especially enjoyed the broad cultural exchange at the end of August, when the freshmen and other new students arrive. He always found that he learned a lot from them and worked hard to accommodate them.

“I have had this calling of being in the service of the community, and I want to generate good,” Lika explains. “I still have to find the way in which I can do the greatest good to the greatest number of people, but also making sure nobody suffers from that.”

HONORS CONVOCATION

The community is what matters to Vasile Valcov, whether that community is his country, his hometown, or his university. “I want to work with people, for people,” he says. And that passion carried through to his positions as a Skaptopara resident assistant (RA) and president of the Student Government (SG) for the term 20082009. The result was an award for Outstanding Contribution to University Shared Governance at the sixteenth annual Honors Convocation.

Like many fellow graduates, Lika was undecided about next steps after graduation, though he had “decided that I wanted to hang around (home) in Moldova for the next two-three years.” An AUBG education has given him the confidence to be that flexible, to wait for a “clear vision,” to know himself. “I want to combine work with pleasure and to live life.”

Sure enough, he had been home in Moldova for just over a month, “and this job opportunity appeared, and in the light of the current economic and political crisis in my country, I took it.” He will be working at the Moldovan branch of Petrom, in Chisinau, the biggest oil company in Moldova and the largest in Romania (and the region), bought by OMV Group at the end of last year.

In a recent note to AUBG Today, Lika explained, “It doesn’t mean I will be working for oil for the rest of my life, but it’s probably as good as any other company to start with. As for the work itself, I’ll be doing some finance and then I will be involved in various projects that are brought by international managers, in order to implement the knowhow and Western practices.” It’ll be plenty different from Student Government, but he’ll use “all the skills and even personality traits that you accumulate along the SG road.”

Vasile Valcov at a meeting with the former U.S. Ambassador in Bulgaria Her Excellency Nancy McEldowney, October 4, 2008

7

HONORS CONVOCATION

Nora Georgieva:

“Make Your Own Choice!”

By Petya Dineva

Nora Georgieva was among the honored students at the Honors Convocation ceremony this year. She was given the award for Outstanding Achievements in Journalism and Mass Communication “for providing strong leadership in the student media.” Nora says, “I believe the award is a recognition for the student’s achievements.”

The award came as appreciation for her diverse achievements in journalism, including stints at both FlashNews and Verve, giving her experience in both online and magazine journalism. She started writing for FlashNews in her first semester at AUBG. After two years of hard work, she became a copy editor, and during her senior year Nora was editor-in-chief. For her, the award is not just a piece of paper; she says that she loves being part of the FlashNews team and the working process inside it. The challenge as a head of the newspaper, for her, is “…to have a team that look up to you and to show them they can rely on you.”

Every Sunday night to early Monday morning of her senior year Nora spent editing the next issue of FlashNews. She’s especially glad that she managed to create a team spirit among the newspaper members. As editor-in-chief, she was responsible for dealing with all the issues, but she says her greatest reward came from motivating people to write. That work on the newspaper helped her become mature and professional.

“The liberal arts system at AUBG gives students the chance to decide what they are interested in with the opportunity to take courses from different majors in their first two years,” Nora explains. “The general education courses help you see different approaches and ways of thinking.”

The disadvantage of the system for Nora is that sometimes students have to take a general education course they are not interested in. But she thinks it’s good for students to have more electives for a major, so that they can get more knowledge and practice.

Nora certainly didn’t limit her AUBG experience to success in journalism. Her other university community activities included Student Representative to the Board of Trustees, one of the

8

AUBG Today, Issue 42

Nora Georgieva’ 09, Journalism and Mass Communication

Outstanding Achievement Award in

Journalism and Mass Communication

organizers of the JMC Rocks and More Honors, and Student Representative on the Financial Affairs Committee. “The wide range of available extra-curriculum activities from clubs to student media allows students to apply in practice their theoretical knowledge,” Nora says.

From her JMC classes she learned how to write easily and precisely, which helped her do her work as an intern at the Capital weekly newspaper last summer. Helped by her colleagues at the newspaper, she quickly switched to writing in Bulgarian, because she was only writing in English at AUBG. Nora is relaxing and considering her options after graduating from AUBG. To view the student online newspaper FlashNews go to: http://www.flashnews.org

HONORS CONVOCATION

Margarita Dimova:

Poet, Actress, Traveler

By Ana Tzalovska

Margarita Dimova, Class of 2009, had an AUBG experience the diversity of which would be the envy of many: radio, theater, student media, Japan, the Model United Nations. And she still found time to excel in her double major in Political Science and International Relations (POS) and Journalism and Mass Communication (JMC).

Margarita’s passionate address to her classmates at this year’s graduation ceremony – in which she referred to the university community as “our big, shared house” – immediately placed her among the best student commencement speakers in AUBG’s short but significant history. Her strong and emotional message came as no surprise to the AUBG community. As the literary enthusiast, poet, and actress known by all, she has a talent for molding her words with an innate rhetorical skill.

Margarita is a student who “immediately distinguished herself as one of our top writing students in her first year at AUBG,” said Dean of Faculty Steve Sullivan when announcing her Outstanding Achievement in Writing during the sixteenth annual Honors Convocation ceremony on April 12, 2009. “She stands as one of the best writing students ever at AUBG.” Further, Margarita graduated with honors in both her majors, POS and JMC, and was also recognized for her poetic gift.

The POS faculty recognized Margarita for the successful completion of her senior thesis on the state failure in Kenya. She was also recognized with the Outstanding Achievement in Journalism and Mass Communication for earning the highest GPA in the major and for “demonstrating exceptional creativity and openness to the world,” according to the JMC faculty.

The AUBG theater nights wouldn’t have been so spectacular if Margarita hadn’t acted in Hamlet and Shagaround. She dresses up her stage fright in poetic words, “I like feeling my heart race so fast that it’s about to explode and then feeling the cool drops of relief (sweat) running down the back of my knees once I get on stage.” What’s more, “I like the dizziness you feel in the spotlight and the

Margarita Dimova’ 09, Political Science and International Relations and Journalism and Mass Communication

Outstanding Achievement Award in Writing and

Journalism and Mass Communication strange idea of being able to transcend your own body and mind for an hour or so.”

Margarita was a DJ at Radio AURA, AUBG’s commercial, student-run radio station, where she hosted the AUBG Show. She is also a member of the Phi Beta Delta society, People to People International, and the Model United Nations club.

At the beginning of April 2009 Margarita was in New Paltz, New York, for a Model European Union simulation.

Margarita’s desire to explore took her to Japan, where she spent her junior year at the Kansai Gaidai University. Making great friends with her Japanese roommate made learning the language enjoyable and allowed her to witness the many cultural peculiarities. The next stop on her academic journey around the world is the Netherlands. Utrecht University has accepted Margarita and offered her a full scholarship for the year she will study Conflict Studies and Human Rights there. After completing her master’s degree, Margarita wants to join an NGO – maybe Human Rights Watch or the United Nations – where she could make a meaningful contribution to the world.

9

COMMENCEMENT 2009

U.S. Ambassador Greets AUBG Class of 2009, Cites President Barack Obama in Charge to Graduates

By Albena Kehayova

“Place your hands on the arc of history and bend it once more toward the hope of a better day.” With those words, the newly elected first black U.S. President, Barack Obama, offered a powerful challenge to his supporters in Chicago after his historic victory last November. With no less meaning, President Obama’s challenge was delivered in front of the graduates, their parents, and the university community by U.S. Ambassador to Bulgaria Nancy McEldowney at the fifteenth Commencement Ceremony, which took place on May 17, 2009 in Blagoevgrad’s main square.

“As you head into the future, you carry an incredibly powerful tool. With this degree, with this education, you have proven – to yourself and to the world – that you have greatness inside of you. You have traveled from almost 20 far-flung countries, mastered a second language, and opened yourself to the universe of ideas,” said Ambassador McEldowney.

McEldowney talked about the current global situation and the impact AUBG alumni will have in the future. “The world that you inherit – that you will lead – is more troubled and more complicated than ever before. And that means the need for greatness – great minds, great ideas, and great leaders – is more urgent than ever before.

AUBG rightly prides itself on teaching tomorrow’s leaders. Today, you become one of those leaders.

AUBG has done its best. Now, as you walk away from AUBG, you must do yours.”

This year 258 students from 19 countries – the largest AUBG graduating class ever – received diplomas at the Commencement Ceremony.

10

AUBG Today, Issue 42

Valedictorian of the class is Igor Letina from Bosnia and Herzegovina with a cumulative GPA of 4.0 (on a scale of 4), who is graduating from AUBG with two majors, Economics and Political Science and International Relations. Letina did an internship in the U.S. House of Representatives in 2008, where he worked in the office of Congressman Joseph Crowley. Letina is the third student in the history of AUBG to have graduated with a 4.0 GPA. At the ceremony 27 students from the sixth class of the Executive Master’s program in Business Administration at AUBG also received their diplomas.

The most preferred major among the students of the graduating class is Business Administration, with Economics and Journalism and Mass Communication sharing second place. Around half of the students in the class of 2009 are graduating with two majors, and the proportion of men to women is 47 to 53 percent. Almost a third of the graduates are international.

The honorary title of Doctor of Humane Letters was given to Ms. Slavenka Drakulic, who was also keynote speaker at the ceremony. Drakulic, born in Croatia in 1949, is an author and journalist whose books are translated in more than twenty languages.

In her address to the audience Drakulic said, “You are getting your diploma, a ticket to life, or better to say – a voucher. You are now ‘armed’ with knowledge, a very precious possession, the only one that could not be stolen from you. Believe in

COMMENCEMENT 2009

yourself: It is not always easy, but if you have an idea, a plan or a dream – stick to it! Life is short!

But it is beautiful.”

Greetings to the graduating students were also delivered by Ms. Marianne Keler, chairman of the AUBG Board of Trustees, AUBG President David Huwiler, and Dr. Solomon Passy, member of parliament in the 40th National Assembly of Bulgaria, chairman of the Bulgarian Foreign Affairs Committee and member of the AUBG Board of Trustees.

In a moving address to her fellow graduates, student commencement speaker Margarita Dimova, from Bulgaria, said, “… there is something about the memories of the class of 2009 at AUBG that is so unique, genuine and telling. Maybe it’s the special persona of our big shared house, where industrious and joyful spirits intermingled day and night. From study groups and caffeine-fueled research, through cooking clubs, to jamming sessions, we found a way to revel in the social life of a rather small, but bubbling community. Under the Blageovgrad sun and stars, we lost and found ourselves. All of that, in the name of belonging to something larger, meaningful and alive.

Remember, these memories will always take us where we need to go. And while getting there, be it on a rickety dinghy in the Indian Ocean, or a fancy cruise-boat along the Mediterranean, feel free to wear sunscreen and celebrate. Just like we’re doing it today – celebrating one of the most memorable days in our lives.”

President David Huwiler is greeting each of the graduating students

11

COMMENCEMENT 2009

parties, student media stories, fiction stories, radio shows, theater plays, the Bistritsa river, Skapto 1, 2, 3, the new academic building, fines and fees, unpaid internships, summer schools, summer jobs, study abroad destinations, and now – sunscreen and the big C, Commencement, are here. And while today, thousands of other graduating seniors all over the world might be reminiscing over a past that appears very similar to ours, there is something about the memories of the class of 2009 at AUBG that is so unique, genuine, and telling.

Commencement 2009, Senior Speech, Margarita Dimova, May 17, 2009

Dear friends,

Four years of vibrant academic and social life posed many challenges to us. Challenges we met with courage, drive, and inspiration. Now, here is my last challenge: to dress in words the raw emotions of the graduating class of 2009.

Memorable is probably among the most common adjectives, attached to the combustible mix of feelings that stirs us today. Love, hate, anxiety, relief, indignation, exaltation, togetherness, and loneliness. All clichés – surely – but at least this time – sincere ones. The solemnity that the mere word memorable carries captures some of the poise of these heartfelt clichés. Today, we say the memorable goodbye to a four-year experience that transcended space and time.

I am thrilled to tell you about what went on and remained in our minds from the places we went and the things we saw. Some might call it soppy nostalgia, but I know that behind each and every memory lies a breathtaking experience, a mindblowing revelation, an inspiring new cause that illuminated our sometimes-monotonous college life. Looking back on it, in only four years, even mundane life at AUBG turned from boring into memorable.

Hectic add-drop weeks, full mailboxes, excruciating 16-page papers, confusing syllabi, dreary in-class presentations, fervent out-of-class discussions, extracurricular activities, student clubs, night clubs, new professors coming, old professors returning, Student Government parties, political

12

AUBG Today, Issue 42

Maybe it’s the special persona of our big shared house, where industrious and joyful spirits intermingled day and night. From study groups and caffeine-fueled research, through cooking clubs, to jamming sessions, we found a way to revel in the social life of a rather small but bubbling community. Under the Blagoevgrad sun and stars, we lost and found ourselves. All of that, in the name of belonging to something larger, meaningful and alive.

Maybe one day we will recall with a smile the insecurities, stereotypes, and prejudices, which evaporated throughout this process of getting to know each other. Because together, we managed to go further than we alone could ever imagine.

We went beyond the silence of the library and the luminescent lights in the residence halls.

And even in the classroom, the often-unexpected understanding from our mentors made academics intriguing. Beyond the curriculum, it was the invaluable contact with our fellows – motivated learners, keen community-builders and restless party animals from all over the world – that made growing up so much more exciting. Before congratulating each other on it, though, we first need to thank our parents for the incessant support, our professors for the unreserved commitment, and our university for the invaluable opportunity.

Thank you all for bearing with us all the way to the big C. I remember this same ceremony from my first year at AUBG. I looked up to the few seniors I knew with awe and envy. Now it’s our turn to look at the young ones with envy. Anxiety takes over as we begin what others, jealous of our blissful existence, call “real life.” Class of 2009, let’s not worry too much about where “real life” takes us. We’ve got what we need.

Sunscreen, confidence, and a backpack packed full of memorable experiences.

Remember, these memories will always take us where we need to go. And while getting there, be it on a rickety dinghy in the Indian Ocean, or a fancy cruise-boat along the Mediterranean, feel free to wear sunscreen and celebrate. Just like we’re doing it today – celebrating one of the most memorable days in our lives.

ACADEMICS

AUBG Creates Open-minded Economists with a Flexible Vision

By Svetozara Davidkova Prof. Didar Erdinc, Associate Professor in Economics, inspires her students with her enthusiasm and openness

“What do I want to be?” This is the question that we ask ourselves when we are trying to choose a university. Many university catalogs offer concrete answers: a historian, a politician, a businessman....

You pick one and embark on a four-year journey that helps you become what you have chosen.

level of flexibility and teaches students to adapt to a fast-changing environment, Erdinc explains.

“Once you have the solid exposure to various kinds of knowledge – through your whole life you will keep reading, keep learning, because you will have already built the basis to do that,” she says.

The American University in Bulgaria offers a different answer to that question. It is an answer which you will determine during those four years of education, and the journey you take is one of discovering a direction, not a destination.

A university’s graduates are the measure of its curriculum’s success. With flourishing careers in the corporate sector, NGOs, and the academia, AUBG Economics majors demonstrate that the education they receive at AUBG offers quality and rigor.

Disturbing events shook the established world order in the past few years – vanishing world resources, wars, socio-political clashes, and the world financial crisis. During that time the field of economics has gained increasing significance as a science that could produce a cure for that destructive wave. That cure is called open-minded creative economists with a flexible vision. And that is precisely the aim of the economics department at AUBG. “Only with broad-based synthesized thinking can you face the challenges of the transition; in this dynamic environment you need the diverse perspectives which liberal arts education gives,” says Professor Didar Erdinc, who heads the Economics Department at AUBG. She has been a member of the department for eight years and its chair for the last two of them. Erdinc says that the economics curriculum has gone through many stages of development in the past decade. Some of the reasons are that the demand for the major has grown significantly; more faculty members have joined; and new and more diversified courses are being offered, especially at the advanced level. The opportunity that AUBG gives to students is not only to complete a degree in Economics but also to combine it with another academic discipline and a set of general education courses. This characteristic of AUBG education offers a high

The latest proof of that was the participation of two of Erdinc’s Senior Thesis class students in the Carroll Round, an annual international economics conference at Georgetown University in Washington DC, where they gave presentations alongside of students from top U.S. universities.

To the question of whether this can become a tradition at AUBG, she replies, with confidence, “Once we have put our foot there we will continue it!”

Creating and implementing new ideas is the core of liberal arts education. The Economics Department at AUBG strives to educate individuals who will not merely enter the contemporary world economic system but who will be involved in changing and improving it.

When they leave the university, economics majors will not only be fluent in both the macro- and microeconomic spheres of the field but will also have a solid grounding in econometrics and an understanding of various advanced topics.

Their greatest asset will be not the knowledge but the skills they learn. Students of economics at AUBG possess strong analytical thinking and adaptability. They are creative and curious, sharp and demanding. AUBG graduates come out as versatile people.

13

ACADEMICS

Teaching Math and Science at AUBG

By Orlin Stoychev, Professor of Natural Science

I am a mathematical physicist. Formally this means a person doing mathematics who is potentially important for physics. Informally I am just a curious person: I like to figure out how things work. This curiosity is perhaps the unifying characteristic of my various activities at AUBG. For a person loving math and science, nothing is further from the truth than the statement, which can sometimes be heard, that mathematics or physics are boring. On the contrary, they can be a lot of fun. Here is a mathematical puzzle that I have invented: Take an object, e.g., a tennis ball, and attach three strands to it. Let the strands go straight down and attach their other ends to the table. Make several full rotations of the ball around arbitrary axes so that its final position is the same as the initial. The strands will get entangled into a braid. Now, without rotating the ball, try to untangle the braid by flipping the strands around and above the ball. If you made an odd number of full rotations, I can bet $10,000 that you will never be able to untangle the braid. On the other hand, if you made an even number of rotations, you can always untangle it, even though this may be difficult. How do I know? Well, this is mathematics!

The explanation stems from a well-known and amazing mathematical property of our threedimensional space – a rotation by 360 degrees is topologically nontrivial in the sense that it cannot be continuously deformed to no motion at all, but a rotation by 720 degrees can and is trivial in this sense. (This fact is also extremely important for our physical world and explains why there are two fundamentally different types of elementary particles – bosons and fermions.)

The idea to link rotations to braids (another mathematical object) occurred to me when I was teaching an advanced mathematics course – Elements of Differential Geometry – and was thinking about how to demonstrate this property in a simple way to students. Eventually what started almost as a game evolved into a joint publication with Vesna Stojanoska, Macedonia,

14

AUBG Today, Issue 42

Prof. Orlin Stoychev conducts an experiment in front of students from his Physics class

a former student of mine, in Mathematics Magazine. Recently our paper received the Carl B. Allendoerfer Award of the Mathematical Association of America for best expository article for 2008.

It is often said that research helps a professor be a better teacher. But the opposite is also true: In trying to be creative about the ways to present and illustrate the material, a teacher sometimes gains an insight that can lead to new results or new ways of looking at old ones. Involving students in this kind of research, when possible, is an ideal goal.

Apart from my involvement with the creation and progress of the mathematics major, my primary job at AUBG has been to teach physics. Most of the students who take the courses are doing majors quite far from math and science and some come with the attitude that they “never liked this stuff and don’t need it.” I think that part of the problem lies in the way these subjects are often taught in high school – scholastically, superficially, without experiments and demonstrations. My aim has always been to demonstrate the whole array of methods that an exact science uses. On the one hand, physics is an experimental science and everything starts with an observation. On the other hand, it uses very advanced mathematical tools and is able to predict amazing new phenomena. Physics is a model science in the sense that it starts with observations, goes through quantitative measurements and uses mathematical models to arrive at predictions. This path is followed more and more by other natural and social sciences, including economics, sociology, and political science.

Ultimately, whether I teach physics or an advanced mathematics course or, more recently, astronomy or even “Mathematical Methods of Economics” (coming this semester), my objective is similar: to reveal the deep relations and unity between different fields and teach my students how we know what we know about our world.

Liberal Arts at AUBG: True or False?

by Filitsa Mullen and John Mullen Assistant Professors of Writing and Literature

From discussions with freshmen in our composition courses we have found that many students arrive at AUBG with an incomplete or garbled or even outright mistaken notion of what “liberal arts” or “liberal education” means. Many assume that it has something to do with political liberalism, others that it means giving students free choice of which courses to take. Still others confuse it with General Education requirements and identify it with that part of the curriculum that is not specifically relevant to preparing for a career or specialized postgraduate study—that is, to their majors.

Yet, once incoming students are asked how they expect AUBG to be different from the traditional eastern European or even western European universities they might otherwise have attended,

ACADEMICS

We are all inquisitive when we are kids. But the more we learn facts, the more we lose this valuable quality. When I try to spark students’ curiosity again and to show them that physics is a lively and interesting science, a large role is played by the laboratory exercises and demonstrations that I have developed over the years with the help of several enthusiastic students, a little money, and lots of innovation and ingenuity. Right now students taking my four-credit physics course do some rather advanced experiments related to holography, gamma-spectroscopy, and atomic spectra; they measure the charge of the electron, the charge over the mass of the electron; and determine Planck’s constant, among other things.

The highest recognition for my efforts came from a student evaluation several years ago: “I never liked physics before. This course has changed that.”

then they offer an amazingly clear understanding of what AUBG is all about and their answers reflect the essence of twenty-first century liberal arts education.

So what are some of those answers?

Students expect AUBG to • teach them critical thinking • teach them the skills to solve problems • teach them communication skills (written and oral) • acquire knowledge in a variety of fields • offer them the opportunity to exchange ideas with professors and peers • develop their leadership potential, which means giving each student the opportunity to take initiative and have others help towards its realization • show them how to combine knowledge from various courses and fields in order to reinforce their own interests and point to future careers • make them flexible in what they can do • involve them in extracurricular activities that will help them pursue interests beyond their majors • offer them a healthy mix of theory and practice • maintain their enthusiasm for life-long learning • prepare them for citizenship in a democratic world When we reflect, then, on those answers we can’t help but notice two things: first, to what extent liberal arts education has remained unchanged

15

ACADEMICS

since its Greco-Roman origins and second, how relevant it is to young people today.

Indeed, the ideal education of the free citizen (hence “liberal” education) of Roman times can be found in those student answers. Breadth and depth of knowledge in the known sciences (scio=I know); ability to communicate with your peers in order to solve problems that pertain to the common good; conviction and belief in your skills that will enable you to participate responsibly in civic activities.

How relevant are these traits of this ancient type of education to students of today, and especially to students at AUBG? Immensely.

At a time when uncertainty about the future (both political and economic) looms large before our eyes, it is exactly this type of “free citizen” that we want to educate: a young person with the knowledge and skills to understand and solve new problems, a young person with the versatility and self-confidence to face the unanticipated in an unpredictable world, a young person with the ability to take leadership in his or her community (be it a professional, social, political, or any other community) in order to serve better the common good and fulfill his or her own potential. This type of citizen is of especial importance in the regions that AUBG serves. Most are still in transition, not only political and economic, but also in a transition of identity. Who are we? Where do we belong? How can we cope? Are the questions still echoing here. And young people, properly taught, will be able to answer those questions for themselves and for people they identify with.

These are the students we are asked to educate.

But then a final question pops up: how successfully do we, the faculty and administration at AUBG, create the circumstances that will enable these freshmen to fulfill these legitimate expectations by the end of their four years as students? In other words, how well do we respond to the demands of a liberal arts education in the twenty-first century? The true answer could be provided only by the students themselves, preferably if we had them together again, but as seniors this time or even as young professionals, in one classroom that would encourage such a dialogue. But from our perspective as professors and mentors we can see that AUBG offers the balanced curriculum, the opportunities, enthusiasm, knowledge and unstinting support to keep on shaping the new “free citizens” of the world.

16

AUBG Today, Issue 42

Computer Science @ AUBG: Dynamics,

Challenges, and Success

By Dimitar Christozov, Professor of Computer Science

This year, the fifteenth AUBG class graduates.

A new cohort of graduates will join the wide world, building their careers and their own success stories.

Among them, 24 Computer Science majors will try to prove that AUBG offers an excellent education in such a highly dynamic and challenging field. They have to show the world that a liberal arts institution can offer a high level of professional training.

They have to demonstrate what the previous 14 classes already did. Every one of those roughly 300 Computer Science alumni found their way to success: Some made academic careers by earning their PhDs at prestigious universities worldwide; others established their own businesses in the software industry, such as Sciant, Eastisoft, Melon Technologies, EMbient. Still others constituted the backbone of the success of companies run by other AUBG-ers. Computer Science majors at Telerik helped the AUBG-run company become the world-wide leader in providing components for Microsoft’s .NET technology. Other graduates joined leading software companies, such as Microsoft, Google, IBM, and Intel. Whatever career they choose, AUBG computer science alumni have proven to be reliable professionals.

Looking back on AUBG’s 18 years of history, we can see that the University is coeval with the World Wide Web, the Internet technology that changed the world. Nowadays, computer technologies influence every facet of human life, from science and communication to very personal and intimate relationships. The dynamics of change are especially visible in the field of

Computer Science was among the very first majors offered at AUBG. The first complete design of the curriculum was done in 1993 following the 1992 recommendation by the Association of Computing Machinery (ACM), the oldest and most prestigious professional body in the field of computer science worldwide. In this way, AUBG was the first institution in Bulgaria to adopt it. In the next 10 years, the program passed through two major revisions, in 1997 and 2004, when new ACM recommendations were published. The first revision recommended launching minors in Computer Science and Information Systems to meet the demand for technology-oriented training by students in other majors.

In the framework of the liberal arts educational model, the professional majors face the challenge of training students who are able to compete in the marketplace of their chosen profession with more highly trained students from other universities.

The professional portion of the curriculum occupies approximately one third of the courses that the students take, and has to be compensated for by much more rigor and self-training. On the other hand, the liberal arts component is highly beneficial for students because it develops social and communication skills, a problem-solving attitude, and a broader understanding of diversity.

These two sides of professional training in a liberal arts framework demand a high level of dedication and commitment on behalf of the faculty and students. Only students who are highly motivated toward learning and professional development survive in this challenging environment. This actually motivated students in organizing themselves into a club to enhance learning and complement training. The AUBG Computer Science Students Union established itself as one of the most active student clubs at AUBG and its achievements were recognized by ACM, which accepted it as a chapter organization.

The balance between practical and theoretical content has always been a matter of discussion.

A great amount of knowledge is now stored in the software available for further use without direct need to comprehend how it is constructed and operates. The problem of losing knowledge has

been a problem of every civilization throughout human history, but now it is in more danger than ever. Software stores the knowledge, and newer versions simply use it and move on, and students do not feel that they need to master such knowledge. The role of universities, the role of higher education, is to preserve this knowledge.

This challenges the market-driven program of Computer Science at AUBG; students ignore what they do not consider important. Forcing all students interested in Computer Science to master complex theories discourages some of them from staying in the program. However, excluding such content from the curriculum will lower the level of the program and will prevent students from continuing their academic career.

ACADEMICS

Computer Science. Continued change is the very nature of the Computer Science major. These changes address the dynamics in the market place in an attempt to offer students the best and broadest opportunities in their future careers. This results in continued change in the content of the courses, the design and variety of course offerings, as well as in new degree programs.

The history of Computer Science is marked not by success only – the dot-com failure in 2000 resulted in a world-wide drop in the number of students interested in Computer Science, a trend that affected AUBG as well. The market switched from software development to effective and efficient use of technology to solve business problems. The changed world broke the isolation of information technology from other aspects of human life. AUBG has had to respond to those challenges. Liberal art as an educational pattern offers holistic education to develop broader values. In this setting, Computer Science was an isolated island – Computer Science students have benefited from the broader expertise acquired at AUBG, but the program did not contribute to other AUBG programs. To break this isolation, Computer Science offered first a minor and currently a major in Information Systems. Extending the Information Systems minor to a major was a natural step made by the Computer Science Department, which allows us to offer a broader set of courses, opening doors for technology training to students who are not so narrowly oriented toward software development, students who understand the need for technology knowledge and skills to solve problems in any area of human activities nowadays. The new major passed through a long process of evolution, which was only possible in a department with stable and dedicated faculty.

Meeting students’ expectations for success in such a dynamic and highly challenging field as Computer Science and Information Systems requires highly competent, creative, and innovative faculty, capable of assuming new obligations and new directions. Continued learning and continued striving for high quality has always distinguished the Computer Science profession.

17

IN FOCUS:

About AUBG graduates in particular: Since AUBG alumni are few in comparison with graduates of larger Bulgarian universities, when I first entered the labor market, we were not known to employers, by and large. If a company has not employed an AUBG graduate already, they often have no idea what to expect. However, when they do hire one, within a very short period AUBG graduates are preferred to any other university graduates, if they are available. In both companies where I worked, after the first AUBG employee, others were sought out and employed. Also, AUBG graduates usually rise quickly in the hierarchy and become technology or team leaders. I believe this to be a consequence of the excellent education we receive, the good opportunities to practice what we have learned in projects and internships, and the general way in which AUBG education is structured. Encouraging independent thought, self-motivation, initiative, and generally treating students with respect and paying them enough attention are things that in my opinion can only be found at AUBG.

AUBG Celebrates Its Diversity

The qualities that make AUBG graduates most valuable as employees, in my experience, are:

By Antoniya Parapanova

1. Excellent oral communication skills: AUBGers naturally speak very good English which is a must in today’s global market. They usually have previous experience of speaking in public, e.g., by presenting projects.

2. Excellent written communication: We are the best at writing design documents and putting out ideas on paper. At AUBG, a special emphasis is placed on developing such skills.

18

6. An alumni network: AUBG alumni are a close-knit group and we stay in touch for years after graduation. We are a large network of professionals and make the best of our connections when it comes to business or hiring.

“

ACADEMICS

3. Very good technical skills: Although the AUBG curriculum is not as heavy in theoretical and mathematical courses as some other universities’, everything it includes is a must for future software engineers. What is more, it is Nadezhda Ivanova ‘03, Bulgaria, Computer Science, presented and taught in a way that allows students Software Engineer for Telco to acquire practical skills and develop a real Systems and Cisco Systems, understanding of the matter, rather than just learn something theoretically and forget about it by the Bulgaria following semester. The excellent computer labs at AUBG also help.

In my experience, there is an enormous demand for software developers in Bulgaria. Software engineers 4. Creativity: Again, it is AUBG’s are well paid and sought after, and in my opinion encouragement of independent thought that helps even the global economic crisis has done little to students develop their full creative potential. affect the demand. In these troubled times, one of 5. Ambition, initiative, and motivation: AUBGthe best things to be is a software engineer. What is ers are as a rule really interested in their work. more, software engineers that have actually studied Given the cost of education, there are very few Computer Science are even harder to find, and people at AUBG who go there just to get a diploma. are generally very valuable to businesses. As team We know what we want and what to do to achieve leader of a project, I have been headhunting to fill it, and we make the most of our education and our up my team, and I have found it almost impossible career opportunities. to find new people.

AUBG Today, Issue 42

In my experience, AUBG Computer Science graduates are sought-after and valued employees, provided that employers have previous experience with them. The AUBG Computer Science curriculum has so far proven sufficient in my line of work, and I have the advantage of having taken many elective courses. Maybe, given the way the industry is going, some courses with an emphasis on .NET development may prove useful to future graduates, as well as some certification programs, such as the Cisco or programming language specific certificates.

Dances, cuisines, and traditions became a colorful blend during the ninth annual International Week at AUBG, which took place Feb. 17 to 24, 2009.

Students and professors from all over the world gathered to share their differences and experience diversity. The event was made possible thanks to the Phi Beta Delta club, the Diversity Team, and International Student Services Coordinator

NEWS AND EVENTS

Pavlina Pavlova. All events stirred excitement, but the debate about gender relativism, the evening of student presentations, and the International Taste Fest topped the popularity list.

The first event of the week was the Exchange Evening during which students shared their experience from exchange programs. The universities the students talked about are in different parts of Europe – the Netherlands, Germany, Ireland, Poland, Hungary and Austria.

Emotions reached a high level Wednesday evening during the debate about gender relativism. Two teams discussed whether gender equality depends on the cultural context or whether it has to be universal. Professor Filitsa Mullen, who argued the relativist side, questioned the right of western culture to impose its understanding of equality on other cultures. Emotions ran high in the Auditorium of the New Academic Building when, in defense of gender universalism, student Mensur Bajramspahic stated that “woman equals life” in his passionate closing speech. The moderator, Professor Jason Levine, ruled the debate a tie.

“This year the debate was a great success because we invited the Versus Chronicles [team] to help us make the event interesting and attractive. The NAB Auditorium was full of people,” said fourthyear student Filip Taseski, who helped organize the event.

Next in line was the evening of student presentations on the theme, “What you don’t know about my country,” which attracted around a hundred people to the Multipurpose Room on Thursday. The evening featured presentations about Albania, Belarus, Georgia, Germany, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Macedonia, Mongolia, Russia, and Turkmenistan. Through short movies, pictures, or Wikipedia facts, the presenters selected the most curious things about their cultures and presented them with humor.

The audience had a lot of fun while learning about the peculiarities of their fellow students’ countries.

Friday night students had the opportunity to enjoy the rhythm of exotic dances and sounds.

The program started with student Elif Oezen who played the traditional Turkish ney. In the end, a

Bulgarian folk ensemble performed under the rhythms of a drum.

Typically, the International Taste Fest on Saturday evening caused the most excitement in addition to being the best attended event of International Week. It gathered around 200 people to the Main Building Auditorium, offering the chance to literally taste other cultures. More than 10 cuisines were represented – Moldovan, Russian, Macedonian, Bulgarian, Turkmen, Kazakh, Romanian, Albanian, Azeri, Mongolian, and American.

“I have to admit that this event will remain in my memory as one of the most pleasurable events that I attended at AUBG. Maybe it is due to the fact that the Taste Fest resembles the highest values we praise here at AUBG – diversity and cultural exchange,” Taseski said. The Taste Fest concluded when everybody joined in for a traditional Bulgarian folk dance – the horo.

The final two events of the week were screenings of the movies Balkankan and Nomad. The former is a Macedonian-British-Italian production by Macedonian director Darko Mitrevski and depicts events taking place during the 1950s in the former Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, and Italy. The historical epic Nomad is also a mixed production of Kazakhstan, France, and the United States, which takes viewers to the steppes of eighteenth-century Kazakhstan.

The ninth annual International Week was a timely celebration of the dynamic exchange of cultures and ideas that is ongoing and defines our community at AUBG.

19

NEWS AND EVENTS

Musicals Are No Longer a Trademark of Broadway Theater

By Antoniya Parapanova

The students in the cast participated actively by offering suggestions, decisions, and, most of all, hard work and dedication to the project.

For the entire nine months leading up to each of the musicals’ premieres, the student actors rehearsed in Skaptopara’s aerobic rooms daily in order to achieve the best results they can for nonprofessional actors.

As April drew closer this year, the AUBG community was becoming more and more eager to see the second musical directed and cast by students. West Side Story premiered on April 10, 2009 in Blagoevgrad’s Peyo Yavorov Hall in front of 500 enthusiastic viewers who had started gathering outside the hall up to two hours before the performance. Last year’s memorable staging of the musical Chicago marked the beginning of the popular musical series at AUBG and set high expectations for this year’s production.

There are several events at AUBG that can bring almost the entire university community together for a day or two, and the musical is definitely one of those events. As early as the month before each of the premieres you could meet students in the hallways of the residence halls animatedly discussing the upcoming performances. Students selling tickets for the performances could be seen perched in strategic positions around campus with their laptops. Then there were those students who were conspicuous in their absence: the student dancers, who spent the last few weeks rehearsing around the clock.

Although credit for bringing the two musicals to an AUBG audience goes entirely to organizers Eva Pillossoff and Rafayel Khachatryan and their team, there is something to be said about the University’s liberal arts philosophy, which encourages students to aim high, and, what is more, supports them in their aspirations.

Pillossoff, who majors in Mathematics and Economics, has a great passion for musicals and has devoted a lot of time and effort to her hobby for the past two years: She directed both musicals in addition to helping with the organizational work behind the productions. Khachatryan, her co-director, was in charge of the organization and decision-making, while Fine Arts Professor Nedyalko Delchev and Dean of the Students Lydia Krise acted as advisors to the project.

20

AUBG Today, Issue 42

The props successfully recreated a 1950s Manhattan atmosphere, while the acting and dances convincingly told the tragic Romeo-andJuliet-like love story. The two feuding groups in West Side Story are the American Jets, whose gang leader is Riff, and the Puerto Rican Sharks, led by Bernardo. The audience cheered the performers’ dancing numbers most of all although the lead singers’ solos also had an enthusiastic reception.

Business Professor Julio Pontes’s cameo drew a particularly keen round of applause. In addition to affirming AUBG students’ abilities as entertainers, the two successful productions were a testament to students’ dedication and hard work, and to the close bond that binds AUBG community members in general.

NEWS AND EVENTS

Annual Olympic Games Brought to AUBG Thanks to Students

By Antoniya Parapanova

Every four years, people around the world are drawn to one unique event – the Olympic Games, a mix of extensive organization, athletes from different countries participating in all kinds of sports events, enthusiasm, and five intertwined rings. AUBG students don’t need to wait that long to be part of such an event as they organize their own Olympic games every year. The AUBG Olympics do not have an international status and their history is not centuries old; nevertheless, the formula is the same – enthusiastic participants from different parts of the world eager to win a medal and an audience eager to watch them trying.

AUBG offers many opportunities. These aren’t limited to the academic sphere where students can choose their own unique tracks of development, but include a great variety of extracurricular activities as well. In and out of class, AUBG fosters a community spirit that doesn’t, however, curb each student’s individuality and uniqueness. The Olympics are perhaps the quintessential AUBG event – a community-building event that, at the same time, allows individuals to stand out and shine.

The AUBG Games are a whole-day sports event and took place for the first time in April 2006 thanks to the brilliant idea of several students who were passionate about sports and competitions.

It took the organizers only two weeks to deliver the first edition of the event in the Skaptopara campus. Later on, the idea evolved, an AUBG Olympics Committee was created, and the event gained increasing popularity as the years passed.

Over 600 people participated in the following two years, either as athletes or as audience. As the Games grew, their location was moved to Porter Baseball Field near Bachinovo Park. The number of competitive events increased to fourteen to include basketball, volleyball, American football, soccer, long jump, arm wrestling, and skills challenge, among others.

The 2009 edition of the AUBG Olympics was held on a windy spring day. However, the weather didn’t cool the participants’ enthusiasm, nor dampen the interest of the audience or diminish the ingenuity of the organizers. On the field that day, everyone was swept into the excitement of the numerous tests-of-strength unfolding in different sections of the Olympic venue. You didn’t have to be a friend, fan, or an acquaintance of the athletes to cheer: You did because of the electrifying atmosphere.

The day’s events ended with a performance by AUBG’s cheerleading squad, refreshments, and DJ-mixed music.

This year’s Olympics featured a guest of honor, Bulgarian athlete Ivet Lalova, the sixth fastest woman in 100-meter history, who awarded medals to the 100-meter dash and 4x100-meter relay winners.

21

STUDENT LIFE

Debating at AUBG: “There Are No Bad Speakers – Only Great Speakers in the Making”

By Ekaterina Saeva

Every spring semester the Debate Club at AUBG organizes a tournament in American Parliamentary debating – nearly three days of intellectual challenge and entertainment.

The contest is open to all students who choose to take part, and this year the topics for debate were specifically chosen to be accessible to people of any academic background. To participate and even win, one needed only enthusiasm, eloquence, and some familiarity with the rules. Of course, training sessions were organized before the tournament to enable beginners to prepare and experienced debaters to brush up on their skills. However, impromptu speaking remains the focus of debating at AUBG, and the American parliamentary format used in the tournament was specifically chosen to encourage improvisation. In American Parliamentary debating, the topic is disclosed just 15 minutes before the debate begins. Therefore quick thinking and adaptability, rather than extensive preparation, is what usually distinguishes the winning teams. While this emphasis on improvisation definitely boosts adrenaline levels, it also provides a valuable learning experience. It helps debaters develop the poise, self-reliance, and flexibility required for real rhetorical excellence.

After three days of rhetorical battles, most participants have the confidence that they are capable of defining and defending a position on any issue, even with little to no preparation time.

Tournament organizers also make every effort to ensure quality adjudication. As English is a foreign language for most participants, judges emphasize quality of argumentation, as opposed to delivery style, as a major factor for winning the debate.

22

AUBG Today, Issue 42

This year the judges were mostly students and alumni with extensive debate experience, as well as professors teaching rhetoric and persuasion. The adjudication panel included Andrei Panici, winner of multiple debate tournaments and founder of the AUBG debate tradition; Serghei Zamsa, one of the founders of the debate program in the Republic of Moldova, an experienced judge, and debate instructor; Professor Molly Burke Kirova, who teaches public speaking and persuasion at AUBG; and Professor Ivanichka Nestorova, Senior Lecturer in English Studies at Southwestern University in Blagoevgrad. All judges endeavored to provide constructive feedback in order to help students not only identify but also overcome their weaknesses. That is why no teams were disqualified in the first four rounds regardless of their performance: Each team was given several chances to analyze their mistakes, revise their strategy, and try again. The organizers’ philosophy is that there are no bad speakers – only great speakers in the making, and the tournament was aimed at helping debaters do their best.

This year’s tournament was also distinguished by the greater diversity of topics debated.

The motions no longer focused exclusively on issues related to European politics and EU integration. Instead, the organizers tried to create a forum for discussing a wider range of socioeconomic problems, ranging from fast food to nationalization in times of financial crisis.

Increasing the variety of topics resulted in a better alignment between the debating initiative and the objectives of liberal arts education: This type of academic training acquaints students with a

STUDENT LIFE

broad range of subjects. Debates and discussions complement it by giving students the chance to activate that diverse knowledge in the improvised defense of an argument. Ultimately, the aim of liberal arts education is to give students the ability to stand their ground in various situations, to respond quickly, adequately, and confidently to any challenge.

In some form, debating and public speaking have always been popular among AUBG students. The university has had a debate club for more than a decade; students and faculty regularly organize debates and discussions. The popularity of these initiatives proves that AUBG is successful as a liberal arts institution dedicated to educating the future leaders of a democratizing region. Because debate is not just an intellectual sport; debate is also a central aspect of political life in any real democracy. It provides the forum that enables great people and great ideas to succeed.

First Model United Nations Simulation – A Practice for the Real World

By Simona Atanasova

Like many prestigious universities around the world, AUBG has its own Model United Nations club. In November 2007 Todor Valev, currently a junior, decided to bring the tradition to the University after participating in a MUN conference in his high school. The main goal of the club is to organize annual international conferences which simulate the work of the United Nations and give students the opportunity to gain and develop skills for future life opportunities.

The first MUN simulation at AUBG took place between March 19 and 23, 2009. Although the organizing team faced many challenges, it managed to attract over 25 students from 10 different countries. The event took a long time to organize, and because it was held for the first time and so has not yet gained much recognition outside AUBG, it was difficult to find students from many countries, said Dzmitry Miranovich, Belarus, one of the organizers. Getting visas for the international participants was also a challenge, he explained.

Four days of heated discussions made the participants forget who they really were as they put themselves in the position of UN delegates from Russia, Austria, France, China, and the United Kingdom. In honor of the sixtieth anniversary of the ratification of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on Dec. 10, 2008, the theme of the 2009 simulation was human rights.

Students were divided into two groups: One group simulated the work of the UN Security Council; the second modeled its activities on the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC). The former discussed topics related to the territorial conflicts in Georgia and Russia, as well as in the Middle East. The UNHRC addressed the issues of human rights in China and the matter of extraordinary rendition. “The most important thing that I learned was the rules by which these types of conferences were held as well as the way a resolution is written according to the requirements of the UN,” first-year student Elitsa Nacheva, Bulgaria said. Although she is majoring in Economics and Business, she said she was curious about the conference and wanted to gain some experience in politics.

The activity of the MUN club is a vivid example of what a liberal arts education provides. Instead of just learning abstract concepts, students are also able to apply their knowledge in handson exercises and simulations. Nothing is more valuable in honing students’ organizational and interpersonal skills and their ability to work in a team than experiences that put them in real-life situations. Besides, students’ academic specializations do not limit their choice of extracurricular activity: One can be a member of the MUN club and major in Computer Science or Economics.

Organizers of the conference hope that the event will gain much more popularity in the future. “From what we received as a feedback we discovered that the conference was well organized.

Of course, there were some negative remarks but they will be of help for our work from now on,” Dzmitry said.

23

STUDENT LIFE

AUBG Connects Liberal Arts Education with Career Success

By Yavor Stratev and Svetozara Davidkova

The American University in Bulgaria is among the universities that recognize and cultivate the practical side of education. On March 31 and April 1, 2009 the University hosted its annual Job and Internship Fair in the Auditorium at the Main Building. The goal of the event was to aid students in communicating with potential employers offering full- and part-time positions and internship programs, as well as to help companies discover the potential of AUBG students as prospective employees.

Despite the hard economic times, 36 companies took part in this year’s fair. Almost all companies offered full-time positions, and 22 were also looking for interns. Various sectors were represented, including banking, telecommunications, food production, copper production, packaging, human resources, recruitment services, audit and tax services, accounting, media, software development, and others.

During the event, recruiters met with AUBG students of all standings and were impressed by their skills and preparation. “They [the students] were very prepared, something we learned from their presentation here,” remarked Tsvetelina Boneva of Société Générale Expressbank.

“Every single year we are more satisfied than ever,” claimed Petya Zheleva, representative of Neterra Communications. Companies that already have AUBG graduates in their ranks expressed satisfaction with their performance.

“The graduates of AUBG are quite well prepared to work at any company in Bulgaria,” said Miroslav Boev, HR Director of Nova Television and Diema Vision Group.

The skills companies were looking for were “teamwork, motivation, flexibility, and work

24

AUBG Today, Issue 42

under pressure” (Mobiltel). Others focused on the candidates’ flexibility (Neterra Communications).

Companies do not see the economic crisis as a hindrance to success. According to Zornitsa Yankova, HR Manager of Aurubis Bulgaria AD, “the necessary skills are the same in a crisis, so it’s a question of having the right attitude and skill set, and motivation to do your job.”

Dozens of ambitious AUBG students took advantage of the recruitment opportunity and provided companies with information, answers, and CVs. Among the candidates was Blagica Soreva, a Macedonian fourth-year student majoring in Business Administration and graduating this May. “I wasn’t particularly looking for some industry or field of interest. I basically came here just to try my luck, prepare for other interviews that I am expecting after the Job Fair.

So it was a very good experience overall,” she said.

Blagica expressed gratitude to the AUBG Career Center for easing the recruitment process. “They helped a lot with their e-mails and notifications and all that. They provided explanations and very useful tips for yesterday and today, so I found them very useful.” Blagica said she felt ready for the real world. “I guess I do. I think I do,” she said with a smile.

This was the sixteenth Job and Internship Fair organized at AUBG. Many companies choose this way of finding talented professionals because it is recruiter-friendly, time-efficient, and inexpensive. Every recruiter receives a resume book of the graduating class with profiles of graduating seniors, which makes it easier to screen candidates. The long history of the event and the numerous successful stories of AUBG alumni currently working for participating companies prove the quality of AUBG liberal arts education and the dedication of its students and faculty.

By Antoniya Parapanova

When most people think of an American university, they relate it to liberal arts education, grade point averages, exchange of ideas, among other things. They also associate American educational institutions with sports, and especially with American football. The American University in Bulgaria is no exception. Not only does AUBG have a long tradition in this sport but also this year it hosted the first National American Flag Football Tournament during the weekend of April 4-5 2009, a landmark event that the American Football Club at AUBG aspires to turn into a tradition.

Five teams participated in the challenge: the Sofia Underdogs, the Sofia Oldschools, the Sofia Strays, the Pleven Bravehearts, and the AUBG Griffins.

The encounters took place on the field behind the University’s new academic building. Originally, the field was not big enough for such an event, but the Griffins team rented special equipment to expand and adapt it for the competition.

Passions ran high during the tournament weekend, and it was hard to tell whether the high temperatures or the players’ enthusiasm heated the atmosphere more. However, fair play was the norm, and the rules of the game were strictly observed by players and referee. Each player was

required to wear a belt with colored flags. In flag football, players do not tackle their ball-carrying opponents as in the mainstream version of the sport, or “tackle football.” Instead, a member of the defensive team has to remove an opponent’s flag in order to end a down. The flag version of the sport is considered safer and has a large following worldwide.

STUDENT LIFE

AUBG Griffins Host Landmark American Football Tournament

Throughout the tournament, the AUBG cheerleaders entertained the audience and showed respect and support for all teams. Just like the tournament, cheerleading is a new initiative this year and offers yet another proof of AUBG’s commitment to students’ extracurricular development.

After two days of heated encounters under a scorching sun, the tournament ended with a predictable win by the Sofia Strays, the team of the U.S. embassy in Sofia. However, by a unanimous decision of all participating teams, the tournament cup was awarded to the team with the youngest players, the Pleven Bravehearts, who ranked fifth.

The Bravehearts also got recognition for their enthusiasm in the face of overwhelming odds. The eleventh-graders traveled by night train all the way from the Northern Bulgarian city of Pleven to participate, getting very little sleep before the tournament, but still managed to put up a good fight against their more experienced and rested opponents.

The AUBG Griffins came in fourth with one win and three losses.

After the tournament all team members went out together to celebrate the successful completion of the event.

25

ALUMNI HIGHLIGHTS

Career Education and the Liberal Arts

By David Huwiler, AUBG President

Each spring, AUBG hosts a job fair at which potential employers talk with graduating seniors about career opportunities with their firms. AUBG graduates are much in demand among employers, and some international firms come to Blagoevgrad hoping to hire a dozen or more. The job fair used to be a one-day event, but as the number of employers interested in hiring AUBG graduates has increased, it has become necessary to extend the fair over a period of several days. It is clear that an AUBG education provides something that employers value.

At this year’s event I happened to have lunch with the CEO and the HR Manager of Telerik – a very successful technology company (which happens to have been founded by AUBG graduates). I assumed that Telerik was on campus looking for top graduates of our strong Computer Science program, but I was surprised to learn that Telerik was interviewing students from all majors. They didn’t care in the least whether the students that they interviewed had studied technology or history or mathematics or political science. They explained that their experience has demonstrated that AUBG graduates in any major bring the skills that Telerik needs in order to succeed in the competitive and rapidly changing technology field. Most university graduates come to their jobs prepared to do what they are told with a high level of competence. AUBG graduates come prepared to identify and solve organizational problems, to help their employers find ways of becoming more successful.

What the Telerik managers told me says a great deal about the liberal arts approach to education and about the success of liberal arts graduates in the “real world” of competitive business. They pointed out that in the technology field, the specific technical skills that any graduate brings to the job will be outdated most immediately. Moreover, Telerik is able to provide the specific technical training that employees need on-site. What Telerik cannot do is to teach new employees how to think. They hire our graduates because these young men and women have learned how to adapt to a rapidly changing environment, how to think critically, and how to continue to learn throughout their lives and careers.

26

AUBG Today, Issue 42

At many universities which follow the European model, students are required to master a body of factual information. The information that is presented by faculty is committed to memory, and successful students are able to reproduce it faithfully upon demand. The liberal arts approach is very different. Our students, too, are presented with a body of information. However, in order to succeed at AUBG, students must do more than simply understand it and remember it. They must analyze it, verify it, challenge it, debate it. They must actively engage with the information that they encounter in the classroom. They must take a position on the views that they study, and they must defend their positions effectively when challenged. Our students learn how to collaborate with faculty in doing research and in expanding the body of knowledge in their fields. In short, AUBG students are active learners rather than passive learners.

AUBG graduates are prized among employers more than the graduates of any other university in the region. A recent survey of Bulgarian businesses

by Business Week magazine ranked AUBG first in the country. One of the reasons for our high ranking, of course, is that AUBG attracts excellent students. Our average SAT score is nearly 1,200, which places us among the best American institutions, domestic or international. In addition, however, it is clear that our approach to higher education provides students with the skills that are most valued by employers. Our students do not need to choose between liberal education and career education. Each group of successful AUBG graduates demonstrates once again that a high-quality liberal arts education is the very best preparation for a successful career.

ALUMNI HIGHLIGHTS

Reach for the Stars

By Boryana Gotsova

Only a few years after their graduation, four alumni of the American University in Bulgaria have already made their way to the most prestigious Bulgarian institution in their area of expertise – the Bulgarian National Bank (BNB).

Although the paths that led each of them there are different, they all agree that their liberal arts education and social experience at the University laid the foundation for their professional success.

At the time Silvia Prokopieva, Class of 2002, was graduating from high school, AUBG was still relatively unknown and only just beginning to establish a reputation across Bulgaria through alumni’s achievements and stories. After hearing from a friend about the style of education, the professors’ approach to teaching, and the vibrant social life at the University, Silvia became convinced that she belonged at AUBG. Like most of her peers, she discovered her interests by taking different courses, and finally decided on Economics and Business Administration. Today, she works as a financial analyst at BNB, where she has developed new insights and abilities. However, she says AUBG gave her the fundamentals – “being able to work in a team and process enormous amount of information in a very short period of time, undertaking responsibility, and working with deadlines.” Silvia made the most of the extracurricular activities offered at the University as well. She practiced karate and shooting; she was a Student Ambassador; and she founded the local chapter of the Network of East-West Women.

Today, she still finds time for her hobbies, having acquired a brown belt in karate and won two silver medals in a shooting competition among European central banks.

Silvia says that her education at AUBG enabled her to choose the right job. “The issue for me was how to find the job that I really wanted to do,” she says. The AUBG network helped. A fellow student who was doing an internship at the bank told her about an opening, and she was hired at the end of the selection process. After several years of work experience, she believes that investment management is the right sphere for her. So what

next? Silvia says she plans to earn a Chartered Financial Analyst title and hopefully … a black belt in karate.

Her advice for the current AUBG students is to stay close to the professional world throughout their studies by following the news, considering career paths, and looking for internships.

“Since I am the kind of person who can be called ‘jack-of-all-trades’ — I appreciate both art and science — I thought that a liberal type of education, at least for the bachelor level, is best fit for me,” Daniel Simeonov, Class of 2005, says about his decision to enroll at AUBG. He completed two majors, Economics and Mathematics, as well as a Political Science minor. By graduation time, he had acquired and developed excellent communication and analytical skills. Daniel attributes the ease with which he became a risk analyst to the relevant education he received at AUBG. Daniel recalls that he did not search for a job after graduation; a job found him and took him all the way to a private school in …China, which offered banking courses in English in cooperation with the Bank of China. Daniel says it was an eye-opening experience to be in one of the most exciting places in the world for a man of economics. He returned to Bulgaria to focus on his career aspirations.

Back home, Daniel was immediately engaged in a big company acquisition project. Upon its completion, he found out about a job opening at BNB, applied for it, and got it. He speaks with pride and enthusiasm about his position as a risk analyst. “You devise the standard against which the performance of portfolio managers is measured and the dimensions of the investment universe – pretty much the rules of the game,” he says.

27

ALUMNI HIGHLIGHTS

Looking back on his own experience, Daniel says that a liberal arts education is an excellent basis for any career. From then on, degree-specific instruction “gives you an edge and focus, especially after you gain a few years of experience and know what you want to do,” he adds. Today, Daniel is enrolled in a Master of Science program in Mathematical Modeling in Economics at Sofia University. In short, his piece of wisdom to AUBG students is: “Study hard and with understanding, but also have lots of fun – you never know what’s waiting for you at the next corner.”

Maria Kartcheva, Class of 2001, came to AUBG because it would give her a unique opportunity in Bulgaria – to choose her majors, once she has explored her own strengths and interests.

Initially, she planned to study Political Science and International Relations, but eventually she graduated with a double major in Economics and Business Administration. Maria’s experience at AUBG was not limited to academic pursuits. She participated in the activities of the Environmental Club and AEGEE (European Students’ Forum). She also completed an internship at BNB’s investment division after her junior year, which helped her identify her career interests. “I was fascinated with the job of a portfolio manager and I enjoyed very much to follow the market developments and search for clues of the future market direction,” she says. After she left AUBG, she immediately looked up the open positions at BNB and was offered a job as an expert in the analysis division. After 18 months in that division, she finally entered the portfolio management sphere in the coveted investment division. Today, she is working on a project concerned with managing the foreign exchange reserves of the European Central Bank.

Maria says that the most important lesson she learned at AUBG was to value her time and use it efficiently. Just as she did, current AUBG students should “actively look for and take advantage of opportunities to gain practical experience, which would help them define their career path,” she adds.

Iliya Karaivanov, Class of 2007, says that applying to AUBG was a natural choice after studying English at the University’s English Language Institute for three years. Although he had initially intended to major only in Computer Science, the introductory courses in Economics he took expanded his interests. He graduated with majors in both fields and a minor in Mathematics. In addition to a superb education, AUBG gave him vital skills, Iliya says, such as time management, “careful workload planning, and precise adherence

28

AUBG Today, Issue 42

to deadlines.” At AUBG, Iliya also participated in website construction projects, such as building the original website for FlashNews, an online student publication. He says that extracurricular initiatives play an important role in students’ social life.

With an AUBG diploma in his hands, Iliya had a considerable number of job offers to choose from.

He settled on a software company, but the dream of working at BNB had already taken root in his mind.

“Most of the time there I spent checking the BNB web-site almost every day for job openings,” he says. As the old proverb goes, everything comes to he who waits. Iliya finally found a suitable vacancy and was accepted, on the recommendation of Silvia Prokopieva. “AUBG alumni are always there to help one another,” he concludes. For a year, he worked in the market analysis department, where he gained crucial experience for his current employment in risk control.

Iliya says that the liberal arts system at AUBG was challenging for him at first. However, with proper guidance, one can make the most of it, he adds.

His advice to first-year students is to talk to older students. “There is no need to discover America a countless number of times,” he jokes, and then adds, in earnest, “Enjoy AUBG. Then enjoy life.”

EMBA

Nastimir Ananiev:

Never Stop Learning!

By Nastimir Ananiev

It’s over. I graduated and got my Executive Master’s in Business Administration degree, another step up the ladder, my life’s ladder. Two years ago it was a different story, after living for 11 years in Ireland I was considering going back to Bulgaria, where I was born and my family was living. I have been working hard for the last few (eight) years after I got my bachelor’s degree in Business Studies. I was the Marketing Manager for Central and Eastern Europe of the biggest private college in Ireland, but that was just part of the picture. I was also developing my own business, and combining these two tasks and raising a family was not easy.

I have always thought of myself as an entrepreneur: I always wanted to do my own thing and to be independent and when a chance came along, I took the risk and I grabbed it.

Many entrepreneurs do not have higher education, they rely on their professional and life experience, and many of them are quite successful, but I personally believe that you need good education to back up you plans and your career path.

When I informed my friends that I had decided to apply for an EMBA degree, they were quite surprised. Why did an entrepreneur like me, regarded by some as successful, need to study more? I was already the CEO of my company and did not have anywhere else to progress to, but they were wrong!

Yes, I have a successful business, I employ over 20 people, I am independent, but I needed a change.

“A change?!” somebody will say. “But you are an entrepreneur! What change, are you bored, how can you be bored with your own company?” I was not bored by my own company, I just needed a change of mind – my mind!

I felt I was consumed by a “matrix,” the matrix where you can describe with 90 percent accuracy what you will do in the next few days, weeks, months, where you get into a magic circle, and when you realize it 20 or 30 years later, it is too late. So be careful all of you reading this article, the moment you see that you are getting into the “matrix,” you have to do something, you will need some change, some new challenge or adventure.

So I needed to wake up my brain and challenge it with a new task. I also wanted to meet new people, new ideas, new friends, and the logical answer was an EMBA course.

Nastimir Ananiev is a graduate of the EMBA program at AUBG, Sofia. He is the CEO of Celtic Property Management Ltd., Animex Ltd., and Demarko Ltd. Nastimir was born in Sofia, Bulgaria, but lived for 11 years in Ireland. He is married and has one child.

After a careful search all around Europe and the United States, and with the help of a friend of mine I chose AUBG in Bulgaria.

The decision was easy – American education, good reputation. It was located in my home country, which I wanted to go back to, and I thought it would be easy for me, the successful entrepreneur who lived for 11 years in an Englishspeaking country. Yes, I was blinded by my own egocentricity.

I was “pleasantly” surprised by the course. It was not easy, I had to work and study hard, but my colleagues made up for that: Most of them were much better than me, they were smarter, more ambitious, and gave me so much.

The EMBA program is about learning not only from your professors and lecturers, but from your colleagues, from their professional experience, from their personal views and thoughts.

Actually this thirst for learning made me agree to sponsor AUBG’s Business Plan Competition. I wanted to learn from those people who were 15 years my juniors; I wanted to see what ideas they will come up with; how they will defend their plans, and so on.

Furthermore, I wanted to stimulate the innovative and creative genes in these young managers and to show them that a successful career path in a multinational company is not the only way, and that becoming the owner of their own multinational company, or any type of enterprise, could be their destiny.

In conclusion, I would say: Never stop learning.

Information and knowledge are the most powerful tools in our internet society, where news reaches millions of people in a matter of minutes and where strategic information can give you competitive advantage in your career and life.

29

EMBA

Leadership Style and Cultural Differences, or When in Rome…

By Prof. Allen L. Bures

For the past three years I have had the opportunity to teach the Organizational Behavior (OB) course in the executive master’s program in Business Administration in Sofia. During the recent past, in addition to teaching in America, I have taught graduate business students in China and served as a Senior Fulbright Scholar in both Kyrgyzstan and Croatia. I have thoroughly enjoyed those opportunities and, truth be known, I have probably learned as much cross-culturally from my students as they have from me. This has been especially true of my work in the EMBA program at AUBG. I have found the students to be highly qualified, motivated, and sensitive to those from other cultures.

The OB course emphasizes a wide range of behavioral management topics including values, attitudes, motivation, teams, power, politics, conflict, negotiation, and leadership. One of the real challenges in teaching such a course is being an American using primarily American materials that reference mostly American research findings in a non-American culture. Fortunately my background, education, and training have enabled me to somewhat transcend different cultures … or “When In Rome, Do as the Romans Do.” One component of my OB course explores various leadership issues with the primary goal of trying to answer the question: Can graduate programs such as the EMBA help create more effective leaders in Bulgaria in a global environment? Unfortunately, little research to help answer this question has been conducted in Bulgaria. In fact most of the literature and research on leadership has been conducted in the United States by Americans with American subjects. That means they have a U.S. bias. Consequently we know much less about how culture might influence leadership effectiveness in, say, Bulgaria. However, utilizing the work of the Dutch scholar Geert Hofstede and the more recent Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior Effectiveness (GLOBE) research project, I have designed an in-class activity that has the students attempt to “tease out” some of the findings most useful to Bulgarians. The authors of one of the handbooks used in my course posit that national culture affects leadership in at least two ways: It shapes the preferences of leaders, and it defines

30

AUBG Today, Issue 42

Prof. Allen L. Bures comes from the U.S. and teaches Organizational Behavior in AUBG’s EMBA program

what is acceptable to subordinates. Leaders can’t choose their styles at will. They’re constrained by the cultural conditions in which they have become socialized and that their subordinates have come to expect. For example, in comparing and contrasting Bulgarian and American contemporary cultures, we find that Bulgarians tend to be more collectivist or team-oriented than their counterparts in the United States.

Consequently we might well expect a somewhat more team-oriented leadership style in Bulgaria than in the United States. Leaders also need to take into consideration the expectations of their employees, which might vary from country to country.

Another teaching project I use in my OB class is to have students, working both individually and then in groups, attempt to ascertain the primary work values in Bulgaria’s recent past and present workforces. The proposition goes something like this: Within a country’s overall cultural context there will be sets of unique values for different cohorts or generations. An understanding that the values of individuals differ but tend to reflect the societal values of the period in which they grew up can be a valuable aid in explaining and predicting behavior. After having had three different EMBA cohort groups work on the framework separately and then condensing their findings, a research paper describing these findings for Bulgaria is nearing completion. The paper will describe the preliminary findings of workplace values in the USA, China, Croatia, and Bulgaria.

“The Dominant Work Values in Today’s Workforce Framework,” whether for Bulgaria, the USA, China, or Croatia, has proven to be a worthwhile teaching technique. I have used the framework with students from four countries and anecdotal feedback has been positive.

What both of these teaching techniques for leadership development have in common is the belief that leaders can be developed to think

Gregory Prince:

Liberal Arts Is an Attitude

By Boryana Gotsova

Gregory Prince together with the AUBG Recruitment team at the University Fair, March 2008, People and Nature Museum, Sofia, Bulgaria. Gregory Prince helps AUBG in recruiting students and popularizing the American liberal arts education system. Mr. Prince firmly believes that AUBG is an excellent institution that even U.S. universities can look up to.

From a bridge and building gang of the Union Pacific Railroad in Cheyenne, Wyoming, to the gold fields in the Alaskan Territory, through an international peace camp in the French Alps, then a job on a charter boat in the Bahamas – all the way to a PhD in American Studies from Yale University and membership in the AUBG Board of Trustees. Who would think again about the lives of scholars as anything but adventurous?

Gregory Prince is one of the few people across the globe who have drawn the most out of two worlds

– of books and of experience – only to pass this knowledge on to students.

Mr. Prince says that his own education was a stepping stone for his understanding of academic processes. “First and foremost, it challenged me.

I have always felt that in an effort to assess an institution, one must ask its students whether they felt their school was demanding of them all they expected it to demand of them. Yale’s impact met that expectation and more. It excited me and seemed to be raising the bar at every stage. It was the beginning of my realization that 90 percent of education is expectation. I came to value the integration of learning and the importance of self-design, of having the student be a partner in his or her education, of having students own their education.”

BOARD NEWS

critically, analyze problems, and understand the context in which they work. When it comes to leadership, personal qualities and characteristics matter, as do most other behaviors. But the real key is what you do with what you have — what you do to enhance your knowledge, skills, and abilities (e.g. enroll in AUBG’s EMBA program). A number of great leaders tell us that their leadership success comes not from the characteristics they had at birth but what they learned along the way. Lastly, one must always consider the cultural context of the situation… or “When in Rome…”

After he graduated from Yale with a bachelor’s degree, having worked hard at summer jobs for several years, Mr. Prince left for Hong Kong in 1961. His academic interests started taking shape while he taught English at the New Asia College.

“I began to be interested both in education and in how the creation of new and the re-shaping of established educational institutions could bring about major changes,” he recalls. He explored that possibility in the United States, attempting to integrate a private southern high school at the time of the Civil Rights movement and managing a college placement program for innercity students in New Haven, Connecticut. His dedication soon paid off. Mr. Prince has since held teaching positions at top colleges, such as Dartmouth College, Hampshire College, and Yale University. He has also been involved with various organizations, such as the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities of Massachusetts, the National Inventive Thinking Association, the Association of Graduate Liberal Studies Programs, the Ivy League, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the Stanford Language Consortium among others.

Recently, Mr. Prince wrote the highly acclaimed book Teach Them to Challenge Authority, in which he draws upon his long experience as an educator and upon involvement with various college communities, including his work with AUBG. He learned about the University in 1995, while chairing the first U.S. accreditation team.

Mr. Prince recalls that the ambitious academic program and bright student body highly impressed the entire team. Eleven years later, he visited the institution as a trustee and a scholar in search of material for his book. In his work, he argues that universities should take a stance on major global issues and that an essential aspect of professors’ job should be to stimulate critical thinking. Mr.

31

BOARD NEWS

Prince says that the purpose of a liberal arts education is to create “an attitude of mind about a passion for learning … about solving problems and taking risks intellectually that are the foundation for success in any field and that are universal and timeless.” With these tools and abilities, a person can take rational decisions and, more importantly, carry them out, he says.

Students, Mr. Prince continues, “will not just think critically, they will act on their judgment and analysis. Indeed, I argue that judgment without action is not really judgment because without action there are no consequences. You can be impartial in the process of arriving at conclusions, but if you are neutral you will not take positions.

Liberal education seeks to strengthen the quality of that critical thinking – a skill that requires impartiality in approaching evidence but still requires taking positions.”

Therefore, diversity is instrumental in providing students with an environment where they can be exposed to differing – sometimes even conflicting – points of view. Mr. Prince believes that appreciating diversity should not automatically translate into an attitude of “all opinions are equally right.” Instead, it is yet another challenge to one’s ability to distinguish between prejudice and solid arguments, to reach a position, and to support it in a manner respectful of others’ viewpoints. Mr. Prince says he welcomes the increasing diversity at AUBG, as it matches the university’s mission of “strengthening international understanding and democratic traditions in a region that often has been shaped by conflict.” In his book, he devotes special attention to AUBG students, commending their ability to form and hold informed opinions with cultural sensitivity and awareness of their own and others’ personal bias.

Mr. Prince says the university has greatly progressed over the years and has become a preeminent institution in Bulgaria. He believes that the Board of Trustees has a great responsibility in aiding the university in its various endeavors, such as selecting the chief executive, upholding the integrity of AUBG’s mission and finances, and making the achievements of the university widely known. In particular, Mr. Prince says that the Board should focus on three areas: “the comprehensive fundraising campaign, supporting the admission effort, and raising the public recognition of the university in Bulgaria, Europe and the U.S.” Mr. Prince is optimistic about AUBG’s future.

“It has many challenges ahead of it to become preeminent on a global stage, but it has the base to do so,” he says.

32

AUBG Today, Issue 42

Founding Father’s Name Graces First Named Building at AUBG

By Sylvia Zareva

Tireless, generous, inspiring, “the heart and soul of AUBG’s leadership”: Many are the phrases that describe Dimi Panitza, a man whose family name now graces the first named building in the new campus of the American University in Bulgaria – the library. He will tell you jokingly, “I love exaggerations, especially when they are about me,” as he did at the official naming ceremony for the library on May 16, 2009 featuring university community members and guests.

Yet it was no exaggeration when student Nora Georgieva referred in jest to Dimi’s “strong and energetic” voice as an obstacle to his being able to enjoy the offerings of the eponymous library. “Library rules are that we all keep quiet,” Georgieva reminded Dimi, whose deep, heartfelt burst of laughter in response reverberated through the entire audience.

Dimi has that effect on people – and not just because of his commanding presence and booming voice. His indefatigable determination and hard work inspire and stimulate. AUBG Board of Trustees Chairwoman Marianne Keler said it best: “From the beginning Dimi has brought so much energy, pride, and love to his role as founding father of AUBG that I don’t think that a single day goes by that he isn’t in contact with someone somewhere in the world about how they can make AUBG do better and be more successful.”

“Dimi was here in 1991 when AUBG was no more than an idea… No one has done more than Dimi to make this place a reality…,” AUBG President David Huwiler recapped.

Dimi is one of the original founders of the American University in Bulgaria, a member of the AUBG Board of Trustees, and a champion of the university since its founding. Over the years, Dimi and his wife Yvonne have helped various student activities and have contributed regularly to the scholarship fund for disadvantaged and deserving students.

Dimi also helped the Panitza Library develop into a modern center of learning with access to more than 100,000 books, over 10,000 print and electronic journals, videos and DVDs, audiotapes and CDs, and direct electronic access to many

DEVELOPMENT MATTERS

Yvonne and Dimi Panitza

databases around the world. In 1994, he and Yvonne purchased an entire collection of a Farleigh Dickinson University library, or 85,000 volumes, and donated it to AUBG. Later, Dimi helped so that the AUBG library could move to a new building completed in 2008. Most recently, the Panitzas presented the University with a collection of books and maps.

The creation of the AUBG Library, Dimi recalls, became something especially important to him back in the early 1990s. “It was my way to get even with the past – to settle scores with the 45 years of communist rule, during which time libraries in Bulgaria – be they national, city or university ones – were ruthlessly controlled by the Central Committee of the communist party and were entrusted with one task: the ideological education of the public and the propaganda and promotion of the policies of the ruling party,” he says.

Dimitry-Ivan “Dimi” Evstatiev Panitza was born on November 2, 1930 in Sofia in the family of distinguished Bulgarians. His family tree includes a prime minister, a mayor of Sofia, bankers, philanthropists, officers, and revolutionaries – the builders of modern Bulgaria. Dimi was raised to love his country and work for its well-being, a duty rendered all the more urgent by his premature exile at the age of 18, following the communist takeover of Bulgaria.

He got to work immediately – first as a lowly clerk in a bank in Paris and a few years later as a trainee

in the editorial department of the world’s largest-circulation magazine, Reader’s Digest. Over the years, he worked his way to become the European Editor and later a Managing Editor until his retirement from the magazine in 1994. Much of the world was his oyster. He covered foreign affairs, a beat that fit both his interests and his condition as a long-term sojourner in foreign lands. But never for a moment did Dimi forget where he came from and who he was. When the Berlin Wall came down, Dimi dashed off to his motherland – after 42 years in exile – and set about helping Bulgaria with its transition to democracy.

Births are always emotional, often difficult, but Dimi knew that it would take more than one good beginning to bring about real change to Bulgaria. In 1991 Dimi and his wife established the Free and Democratic Bulgaria Foundation (FDBF) in Sofia, which has greatly helped make improvements in various spheres of Bulgarian society. Its achievements until its winding up in 2009 include programs that address the plight of street children and homeless youth, help for reform of the child welfare system in Bulgaria, support for the publication of numerous important books, work in the sphere of drug prevention and drug treatment, funding of educational opportunities for young people, and the establishment of the Excellence in Journalism Prizes, which by 2004 had gained recognition as the most authoritative journalism awards in Bulgaria, now replaced by the ongoing annual Civic Honor Prize.

Dimi is the founder and honorary chairman of Junior Achievement-Bulgaria, which offers educational programs in economics and entrepreneurship to adolescents, as well as of Outward Bound-Bulgaria, which organizes a broad range of courses that empowers people to develop their potential by engaging in challenging experiences in unfamiliar outdoor settings.

Dimi’s other initiatives include the Alliance for Children and Youth, which provides assistance to homeless, unemployed young adults; the Bulgarian School of Politics, whose graduates

33

DEVELOPMENT MATTERS

include members of parliament, regional governors, mayors, and young leaders with varied backgrounds, and which was founded to promote the development of a modern political and governmental culture based on pluralism, tolerance, and open dialogue; and the Institute for Studies of the Recent Past, created to promote research and fill the gap in modern Bulgarian history for the period between 1944 and 1990.

For his work, in December 2000 Dimi received Bulgaria’s highest civilian decoration, the order of Stara Planina, first class. He is also a Chevalier (Knight) of the French Order of the Legion of Honor and is the recipient of the Council of Europe’s Pro Merito medal for his contributions to the democratic processes in Eastern Europe.

The Panitza Library

The Panitza Library is the largest English-language library in Southeast Europe. Library users have access to more than 100,000 books, over 10,000 print and electronic journals, videos and DVDs, audiotapes and CDs, and direct electronic access to top electronic databases.

The Philanthropist Georgi Protogerov:

“Think freely, grow upward”

By Pavlina Stoycheva and Albena Kehayova

“One has to support young people who don’t see the light at the end of the tunnel, who are in dire circumstances, but have talent, so they can realize their potential,” says Bulgarian philanthropist Georgi Protogerov. This belief informs his charitable activity at the American University in Bulgaria. Through his generosity the funding opportunities AUBG offers to its students increased by yet another one.

Thanks to private and corporate donors the University has the financial resources to help students receive an education that affords them a better life. With Protogerov’s help in the fall of 2009 a new scholarship program was launched, enabling students to study at the University.

The Protogerov scholarships are available to current AUBG students and cover tuition and living expenses, as well as to high school students who have to take language classes at the English Language Institute at AUBG in order to fulfill the requirements for admission and meet the challenges of the University’s rigorous academic environment. In keeping with the wishes of the donor, who is also the manager of the Jan Protogerov–Bulgaria Foundation, which administers the scholarships, the funds are available to Bulgarian citizens who have no parents or who are from poor families, as well as to students who have achieved outstanding results in national and international science competitions.

A friendly handshake, a smile, and the warm “welcome, you are dear guests” greet us as we are making our way to Georgi Protogerov’s office.

A quick look around the comfortable room tells us that its inhabitant loves traveling. We are trying hard to fit into our surroundings as our host shows us the maps hanging along the entire length of the walls. Then the quiet

34

AUBG Today, Issue 42

The foundation that Georgi Protogerov founded is dedicated to his son Jan Protogerov (1959-1997)

“My father, Ivan Protogerov, left Bulgaria in 1910 to go to America, where he spent 16 years of his life. For me, the United States of America is a country of unlimited opportunities… Thanks to his stay there, my father came back not only with hard-earned savings, but also with the mentality and customs of that people, which he passed on to us – his three sons. He used to get us together and tell us, ‘Think freely, grow upward,’” Protogerov’s story begins.

Born in 1928 in Plovdiv, Georgi Protogerov finished the First Boys’ High School, and in 1946 he enrolled as a part-time student in the Managerial Accounting program at the University of National and World Economy, which was then called Higher Institute for Economics “Karl Marx.”

He worked to support himself through school; his first job was as inventory manager at the building design company “Sindikatoproekt.” His forty-year accounting career began in the state economic company “Transstroy,” where most of the time he held the position of Senior Accountant. After receiving his first degree, he enrolled in a graduate program, which he finished with flying colors and which allowed him to pursue a doctoral degree. A few years later he earned his PhD in Economics, and when the Institute for Certified Accountants reopened in 1991, he enrolled and finished it to become one of the first certified freelance auditors in Bulgaria. In addition, for 15 years he juggled his business responsibilities with his duties as a professor at the University of National and World Economy.

As his life story reveals, Protogerov practices the philosophy that’s at the heart of American liberal

DEVELOPMENT MATTERS

clink of the coffee spoons ruptures the silence, followed by the first hesitant words, which aren’t long in coming, as Protogerov, a straightforward man, begins recounting his story, much in the way fairytales are told. Little does he seem to realize that his generosity makes fairytales come to life for many young people, who, with his help, receive high-quality education that lays the foundation for their upward growth.

arts education – life-long learning. This is why he believes that bequeathing the Jan Protogerov– Bulgaria Foundation to AUBG was the right decision. “A great weight fell off my shoulders – after I decided whom to leave the foundation to,” Protogerov admits. After he found out that AUBG Board of Trustees members not only work for the University on a voluntary basis, but also personally contribute to the University funds, he realized that those people believe in AUBG and support it unconditionally. Subsequently, he visited the Skaptopara campus in Blagoevgrad and was truly impressed. “Not only the residence halls, but also the classrooms and the library – everything predisposes you to studying,” Protogerov says about his first impressions of the campus. He says he has always studied with fervor in order to realize his dreams. In line with his belief that education is the key to success, Protogerov decided to support young people’s educational pursuits rather than to give to initiatives that deal with other areas in the lives of disadvantaged children. “With a diploma in their hands they can overcome everything and contribute to Bulgaria’s progress; I don’t think there is a better way to help my country,” he says.

After a short pause, we move on to a topic that has left deep scars in Protogerov’s soul. With a sadness that touches us as well, Protogerov tells us of the incident that changed his and his wife’s lives forever – the car accident that killed their only child, Jan. The foundation that Georgi Protogerov left to AUBG is dedicated to Jan Protogerov, engineer, born on 28 September 1959.

Jan completed his secondary education in the German Language School in Sofia and earned a university degree at the Railway Institute in Sofia, which he finished with the rank of lieutenant. He also graduated from the Technische Universität Dresden, Germany, with an impressive GPA. After he returned to Bulgaria, Jan started his own successful business. In 1997 he died in a car accident at the age of 37.

“My life after Jan’s death went in a different direction,” Protogerov said, lovingly leafing through family albums. A smiling, clear-eyed Jan looks back at us from their pages. “Through the scholarship program I want to help young talented Bulgarians achieve their dreams and also have my son’s name live on,” he continues.

The thing that would please Protogerov most, he says, is to learn that a student who has earned one of the Jan Protogerov scholarships has become successful – that, and for people to remember that the Protogerovs cared about their country and its future.

35

DEVELOPMENT MATTERS

Tchaprachikoff Scholarships Help AUBG Students Attend Top Graduate Schools

By Ana Tzalovska

Ever since its founding, the American University in Bulgaria has been committed to helping build a better future for Bulgaria and the region, and to nurturing the most ambitious and most capable of students. It has done so by providing highquality liberal arts education at the bachelor’s level that prepares students for exciting professional and academic careers. Thanks to the generous posthumous donation of Bulgarian philanthropist Anna Tchaprachikoff, AUBG has now gone a step further in its efforts to cultivate the region’s intellectual potential: Bulgarian AUBG graduates can now compete for scholarships administered by the University to do their graduate studies at top U.S. institutions.

The Tchaprachikoff scholarship fund was created through the estate of Anna Tchaprachikoff, valued at around $5 million. Tchaprachikoff was a patriotic Bulgarian who believed that education is the best investment in the future, and that the best way to help Bulgaria develop is to provide its youth with the best educational opportunities. True to her beliefs, Tchaprachikoff stipulated that talented AUBG graduates should receive financial support in their pursuit of master’s degrees at the most renowned universities in the United States, such as Harvard, Princeton, Yale, Stanford, Brown, and Columbia University, among others.

This year AUBG granted Tchaprachikoff scholarships to three students: Stefan Tsvetkov, who will start his studies at Columbia University in the fall of 2009; Mila Todorova, who was admitted to the Johnson School at Cornell University; and Lyuba Stevasarova, who will pursue her graduate studies at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business.

“AUBG is the perfect place for a young person to study” Stefan Tsvetkov ’09, Bulgaria, Mathematics and Economics. Recipient of the AUBG Tchaprachikoff scholarship to attend a graduate program at Columbia University, United States

36

AUBG Today, Issue 42

Stefan received the scholarship after he was accepted at the Ivy League school. This year Columbia ranks eighth among a listing of 4,000 top US universities. Stefan, who graduated in May 2009, majored in Mathematics and Economics at AUBG. In the fall of 2009 he will begin his Master of Science in Financial Engineering at Columbia University. Stefan is also looking to earn a Chartered Financial Analyst designation.

“This scholarship improved my chances to attend graduate school,” Stefan says. He was also accepted in a number of other prestigious institutions in the United States and Britain: the London School of Economics, King’s College London, Warwick University, Manchester University, Cornell University, the Georgia Institute of Technology, and Boston University.

At AUBG Stefan founded the Student Investment Club. The club organized more than 20 guest lectures with the participation of finance and investment professionals who specialize in the fields of private equity, mutual funds, and real estate. Stefan also helped establish Uniconsulting, a student enterprise that offers financial consulting services.

“AUBG is the perfect place for a young person to study,” Stefan says. “It provides the ability to become broad-minded and enjoy the benefits of a liberal arts education. One can choose whatever courses he likes and can adjust his curriculum according to his interests, which further improves his chances for graduate studies in Europe or in the States,” Stefan concludes.

On August 30, 2009, hundreds of AUBG students, faculty, and staff gathered together for the traditional beginning-of-school-year picnic at the baseball field near Bachinovo Park.

A ceremonial cake is being cut by two presidents - David Huwiler - AUBG President and Alexandru Panici - President of Student Government.

It is great to be back!

American University in Bulgaria Blagoevgrad Main Building

1, Georgi Izmirliev Sq. Blagoevgrad 2700, Bulgaria President’s Office: (+359 73) 888 307 Development: (+359 73) 888 366 Fax: (+359 73) 888 344

New Academic Building

Published by:

University Relations Office Phone: (+359 73) 888 215 Fax: (+359 73) 888 399

54, Alexander Stamboliyski Str. Skaptopara Campus Blagoevgrad 2700, Bulgaria Admissions: (+359 73) 888 235

American University in Bulgaria Sofia Elieff Center for Education and Culture 1 Universitetski Park St., Studentski Grad Sofia 1700, Bulgaria Switchboard: (+359 2) 960 7910 Fax: (+359 2) 961 6010

U.S. Mailing Address:

American University in Bulgaria 910 17th St., N.W. Suite 1100 Washington, D.C. 20006

www.aubg.bg