Academic Centre
Roberts Blumbergs was born in 1970 in Chicago, USA. For many years, he studied at the Chicago Latvian Saturday School named after Krišjānis Barons. In 1987, R. Blumbergs graduated from Latvian Summer High School at Garezers. He began his studies at the University of Wisconsin and graduated with a degree in international relations in 1992. Subsequently he obtained a degree in law from the University of Pittsburgh in 1995. R. Blumbergs is a barrister in the states of Illinois and Iowa and works in private practice in Chicago, Johnson, Blumberg & Associates, representing financial institutions.
R. Blumbergs is active in several professional organizations in the United States, including the American Chamber of Commerce in Latvia and the board of directors of the non-profit organisation "Friends of the University of Latvia". Roberts Blumbergs is an honorary member of the University of Latvia.
R. Blumbergs was appointed to the Eastern Europe Advisory Council of US Senator for Illinois Mark Kirk, and in 2011 he was appointed Honorary Consul of the Republic of Latvia to Illinois. He is also an active lifelong member of the American Latvian Association and currently holds the post of a Senior Elder of the student corporation "Lettgallia" Foreign Presidency.
In 2014, Roberts Blumbergs was awarded the Three Star Order.
Parents of R. Blumbergs, Gunārs and Ināra, were both born in Latvia and arrived in the United States in 1950 as children of the World War II refugees. Gunārs and Ināra have established a scholarship for students of the Faculty of Law. Both R. Blumbergs’ grandfathers and one grandmother have graduated from the UL.
Support
In 2011, R. Blumbergs supported a guest lecturer of judge Ilana Diamond Rovnerat the UL Faculty of Law, donating EUR 1 388.44 for the purpose.
In 2012, R. Blumbergs supported preparation of University of Latvia student team for the International Collegiate Programming Contest with EUR 2 842.90.
In the same year, R. Blumbergs established a scholarship in honour of Andrejs Pildegovičs for the graduate students of the UL Faculty of Social Sciences, mastering the programme "Diplomacy", amounting to USD 3 000 (EUR 2 314.64), and the first scholarship is awarded to Ilze Melgalve.
In 2013, R. Blumbergs organised participation of two professors from the USA in the UL Faculty of Law summer school and donated 10 Latvian Song and Dance Festival closing concert tickets to the professors of summer school.
In the 2013/2014 academic year, R. Blumbergs continued to support the scholarship initiative. Andrejs Pildegovičs scholarship – USD 3 000 (EUR 2 282.76) – was awarded to the student of the UL Faculty of Social Sciences, Department of Political Science, master’s programme "Diplomacy" Sintija Lejniece.
In the same year, R. Blumbergs donated EUR 3 07846 for preparation of UL student teams for the International Collegiate Programming Contest (ACM ICPC) of 2014.
In 2014, R. Blumbergs supported Business Idea Foundation with a donation of USD 5 000 (EUR 3 583.46).
In the 2014/2015 academic year, Andrejs Pildegovičs Honorary Scholarship of EUR 2 500 is awarded to the UL master’s programme "Diplomacy" student Ieva Krekovska.
In the 2015/2016 academic year, R. Blumbergs continues to support Andrejs Pildegovičs Honorary Scholarship programme and the scholarship of EUR 2 500 is awarded to the UL master’s programme "Diplomacy" student Ilze Andžāne.
In 2016, R. Blumbergs supported participation of UL student teams in the International Collegiate Programming Contest (ACM ICPC) with the donation of USD 1 000 (EUR 878.04). The performance of students was outstanding – two UL teams entered the semi-finals of the prestigious competition.
In the 2016/2017 academic year, R. Blumbergs continued to support the scholarship initiative. Together with his parents, he donated USD 2 000 (EUR 1 756.08) to Andrejs Pildegovičs Scholarship programme. The scholarship was awarded to the student of UL Faculty of Social Sciences Diāna Kazina.
In 2017, R. Blumbergs made a further donation of USD 2 000 to Andrejs Pildegovičs Scholarship programme, and the scholarship was repeatedly won by Diāna Kazina. The patron also donated USD 1 530 for symposium of the project "Topological Modelling of Structural Alignment: A Topological and Experimental Analysis of Information Visualisation".
In 2018, R. Blumbergs enabled participation of UL student teams in the International Collegiate Programming Contest (ACM ICPC) finals in Beijing with the donation of USD 2 000. A donation of EUR 100 was contributed to establishment of the UL Alumni Trail at the UL Botanical Garden.
We greatly appreciate the generous support to education and development!