ANN ARBOR, Mich. ?The University of Michigan?s Center for Russian and East European Studies announces the Ronald and Eileen Weiser Professional Development Fellowship Awards for 2007.

The program is in its third year and was made possible through a five-year gift from Ronald Weiser, U.S. Ambassador to Slovakia from 2001-04, and his wife, Eileen Lappin Weiser. These short-term travel awards are designed to stimulate collaborations in research and teaching between higher education faculty and artists in the Slovak Republic and U-M.

U-M faculty receiving awards for research in Slovakia are:
–Matthew Biro, associate professor, history of art.
–Dr. Steven Donn, professor of pediatrics and communicable diseases.
–Jindrich Toman, professor of Slavic languages and literatures.
–Georgette Zirbes, professor of art and design.

Three Slovak scholars from institutions in Bratislava received awards for research at U-M: Peter Blesak, professor of mechanical engineering, Slovak University of Technology; Dagmar Kopcanova, professor of educational psychology, Research Institute for Child Psychology; and Gabriel Piricky, research scientist, Institute of Oriental Studies, Slovak Academy of Sciences.

Former U.S. Ambassador to Slovakia Ronald Weiser and his wife pledged $250,000 to the U-M center in 2004. The Ann Arbor natives learned to love Slovakia during his ambassadorship from 2001 to 2004 and gave the gift to strengthen the ties between the two nations.

The Ronald and Eileen Weiser Slovakia-University of Michigan Collaboration has two main goals:

–The Ronald and Eileen Weiser Awards for Student Research and Internships in Slovakia supports U-M student travel awards for summer or semester-long research projects or internships at institutions, businesses and other organizations in the Slovak Republic.

–The Ronald and Eileen Weiser Professional Development Awards supports short-term travel awards designed to stimulate sustained collaboration in research and teaching. Support is provided to U-M and Slovak scholars and artists who wish to explore projects in any field of research or teaching at U-M.

Ambassador Weiser is a graduate of the U-M Business School and founder and former CEO of real estate investment company McKinley Associates. Eileen Weiser holds a master?s degree from the U-M School of Music.

For more on the center and the awards