Academic Centre
The patron, American Latvian Andrejs Eglīte was born on 11 April 1938 in Riga. Both of Andrejs' parents – Anna Marija Eglīte (1907–2001) and Jānis Eglītis (1906–1988) – had a great talent in working with children and both were teachers. Andrejs Eglītis' sister Dace was born on 9 February 1942.
As the end of World War II approached, the family made a difficult decision to emigrate to Germany. There they lived in refugee camps until 1949, when they travelled to the United States, where they settled near the city of Amsterdam in New York State.
Later on, the family moved to Lincoln, where Andrejs continued his schooling which he had commenced in refugee camps and in 1956 graduated from Lincoln High School. Soon after, Andrejs began studying engineering at the University of Nebraska, as well as joined the student corporation "Latvia".
In 1961, Andrejs was drafted into the US Armed Forces, where he served until 1963, after which he remained in the Army Reserve for another two years. Until his retirement in 2006, he worked in the Nebraska State Division of Bridge Design.
Since 1961, he is a lifelong member of Daugavas Vanagi ("Daugava Hawks") Latvian Welfare Association in Lincoln, USA, has held positions on the board, in the shooting sports group and on the audit committee.
He is also a Lifetime Member of the American Latvian Association in the Amber Grade, awarded with a letter of commendation from the association for many years of work in the Daugavas Vanagi Association.
Since 1975, Andrejs has been working at the Latvian Foundation Inc., where he has reached the rank of Iron Thousand, as well as at the Latvian Freedom Foundation.
Andrejs Eglīte is also a supporter of the Occupation Museum and the Children's Foundation of Latvia.
Support
In 2019, in cooperation with the "Friends of the University of Latvia", he donated USD 25 000 to support cognitive sciences at the University of Latvia.
We greatly appreciate the generous support to education and development!