The University of Latvia after European Union Enlargement

Professor Ivars Lacis has served as Rector of the University of Latvia since 2000. His lecture will address the academic, administrative and financial challenges faced by the University of Latvia after that country’s accession to the European Union in May of 2004.Lacis has served as Advisor of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Latvia; a Member of the Senate of the Latvian Academy of Sciences, and the Latvian National Committee of UNESCO. He is an Officer of the Legion of Honour of France.

Prof. Lacis has been a researcher and faculty member at the University of Latvia since 1969. He is currently also Head of the Laboratory of Optical Materials at the Institute of Solid State Physics. His research and multiple

publications are in the fields of Optometry and Vision Science, Crystal Growth, and Glass Structure. He has taught courses in Semiconductor Microelectronics, Technology of Integrated Circuits, Solid State Chemistry, Experimental Physics, Optometry, and Physiological Optics, and is Director of Bachelor and Master Study Programs in Optometry.