Algirdas Avižienis

Garbės profesorius / Honorary Professor (Suteiktas vardas 1994-03-09)

Prof. Algirdas Avižienis, who served as a member of VMU’s Re-establishment Senate, subsequent Senates, and University Councils, is an active, internationally renowned scientist whose improved architecture of fault-tolerant computers is now widely used worldwide. His conceptual designs led to the development of the world’s first self-testing and repairing computer, STAR, whose principles continue to be used in NASA spacecraft, commercial aircraft, nuclear reactors, Earth satellites, etc.

In Lithuania, Avižienis significantly contributed to the re-establishment of VMU, serving as its leader from 1990 to 1993. Thanks to his efforts, VMU became the first university in the country to adopt a liberal system of science and studies based on Western principles. In 1994, he was awarded the title of VMU Honorary Professor. In 1998, he was awarded the 3rd degree Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas for his merits to Lithuania. At the end of June 2012, Prof. Avižienis was awarded the title of Honorary Citizen of Anykščiai District.

While living in the USA, Prof. Avižienis was an active member of the Lithuanian-American community and the Lithuanian Scouts Association, and in 1967, he organised the first Lithuanian Symposium on Arts and Sciences in Chicago. He received his bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral (1960) degrees from Illinois State University. In 1972, he was awarded the title of Professor at the University of California. Prof. Avižienis has been awarded the Medal of Honour and the US Medal of Merit, as well as the highest award of the International Federation of Informatics (IFIP), the Silver Core. In 1985, he was awarded the title of Honorary Doctor by the French National Polytechnic Institute of Toulouse for his contribution to the development of international scientific relations.

Prof. Avižienis is Professor Emeritus at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and Vytautas Magnus University, a Foreign Member of the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences, a member of the International Federation of Informatics (IFIP), one of the founders of the Czesław Miłosz Birthplace Foundation, Honorary Director of the World Lithuanians’ Centre of Culture, Science and Education, and an honorary member of the VMU Re-establishment Council.

In 2012, Prof. Avižienis received the prestigious Eckert-Mauchly Award in the United States of America for his significant contributions to fault-tolerant computer architecture and computer arithmetic, and the Jean-Claude Laprie Award in Dependable Computing. In Kaunas, he was awarded the 1st degree “Santaka” badge of honour for his lifetime scientific achievements.