Academic Centre
Andris Ramāns (1936) was born in Riga. In early childhood he left Latvia, as his family went into exile. They spent six years in refugee camps in the American zone of Germany. He came to the USA, California in 1951. There he graduated from high school and the University of California in Berkeley. After studies he started working in the fast-growing semiconductor industry. Until his retirement, he worked for more than 40 years in Silicon Valley companies manufacturing chips and silicon raw materials.
An active member of the local Latvian community, he has been on the board of the American Latvian Association (ALA) since 2013, a sector leader and vice chair. He is a member of the board of the UL Foundation partner organization "Friends of the University of Latvia" since its inauguration in 2012. Fate has been propitious and the achievements of patron has enabled him to help others.
The patron has been a stalwart benefactor of the UL since 2005, financially and organizationally supporting the UL representatives' meeting with members of the Latvian diaspora in the US and Canada.
In 2015, Andris and Bettija Ramāns created a family scholarship for students of the Special Education Teacher sub-programme at the UL Faculty of Education, Psychology and Art. "Life is full of challenges – especially for those with physical or mental disabilities. From personal experience we appreciate that the influence of specially educated teachers on growth of people with special needs is irreplaceable," patrons explain their motivation behind establishment of the scholarship.
Support
In 2015, the patrons donated EUR 3 000 for establishment of Ramāns Family Scholarship, which in 2015/2016 was awarded to students Liāna Jurēvica and Laila Skarpa.
In 2017, the support to students continued with a donation of EUR 4 400, which enabled awarding of two scholarships in 2017/2018, which were received by Ilze Liepa and Līga Eidone.
In 2018, the donation of EUR 4 400 continued the Ramāns Family Scholarship programme, and in 2018/2019 the scholarships were awarded to Liene Ekša and Ilze Liepa.
In 2019, the patrons donated EUR 5 164.03 to the programme.
We greatly appreciate the generous support to education and development!