Adolfas Laimutis Telksnys
Garbės profesorius / Honorary Professor (Suteiktas vardas 2022-05-25)
Prof. Dr. Habil. A. L. Telksnys (b. 24 November 1930) was an electrical engineer, Habilitated Doctor of Technical Sciences, professor, member of the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences (academician since 1994), VMU Honorary Professor, and creator of Lithuanian computing machines, who as a scientist, innovator, and teacher had a great influence on the development of computer science and the Internet in Lithuania.
Having started his scientific career in 1953, Telksnys published 162 scientific articles and made 6 inventions during his lifetime. In 1960, when he started working at the Vilnius Computing Machine Factory as the Chief Engineer of the Design Bureau, he participated in the development of the first Lithuanian computers, including RŪTA 701, a machine able to recognise characters. In 1991, his efforts led to the launch of the country’s first independent internet channel operating via satellite connection, laying the foundations for the Lithuanian Research and Education Network LITNET, of which he was elected as the long-time Chairman of the Board.
In 2002, Prof. Telksnys, together with like-minded colleagues, initiated the project “Rural Area Information Technology Broadband Network RAIN”, which aimed to provide high-speed Internet access to the residents and institutions of Lithuanian villages and towns. The results of this project have significantly contributed to Lithuania becoming one of the world’s leading countries in terms of high-speed internet.
Prof. Telksnys’s active scientific activity continued for more than five decades, during which he carried out research on the recognition of random signals and their properties, developed an original theory and constructive methods for the recognition of changes in random processes, and, together with a team of scientists, was involved in the analysis and recognition of the functional state of the cardiovascular system using cardiac rhythmograms. The results of his research have been published in 162 scientific articles and 6 of his inventions have been registered in total.
Crowning his theoretical and experimental research experience, Prof. Telksnys initiated the LIEPA and LIEPA-2 projects (2013-2020), which led to the development of Lithuanian speech recognition and synthesis engines and services for personal computers, smartphones, and robots.
Prof. Telksnys actively participated in various activities: he was a long-standing member of the Research Council of Lithuania and the Chairman of the Electronics and Informatics Section of the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences, the Head of the Expert Group for the development of the Strategic Plan and Concept of Lithuanian Information Society Development, the Head of the Expert Group for the Development Strategy of Information Technologies and Telecommunications, and the Head of the Board of LITNET, the Lithuanian Research and Education Network.
Prof. Telksnys’s achievements have been recognized with Lithuanian State Prizes (for the development of the computing machine “RŪTA 701” in 1968 and for the cycle of papers “Theory and Methods of Non-Stationary Random Processe Recognition” in 1980) as well as the Lithuanian Science Prize (for information technologies for the Lithuanian language and culture in 2008). For his scientific and social activities he has been awarded the Grand Cross of Commander of the Order for Merits to Lithuania (in 2021), the Grand Cross of Commander of the Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas (in 2001) and the “New Bookbinder” award of the Information Society Development Committee under the Ministry of Transport and Communications for his lifelong activities and deeds that have significantly contributed to the acceleration and development of Lithuanian Information Society Development processes (2014). In 1998 he was awarded the title of Honorary Doctor of KTU.
Professor Adolfas Laimutis Telksnys worked at Vytautas Magnus University for more than two decades – from 1993 to 2020. Here he gave lectures on Process Analysis and Recognition to first-cycle and second-cycle students, supervised doctoral dissertations (5 dissertations were prepared and defended), participated in the activities of doctoral committees, chaired the committees of master’s and bachelor’s theses and the committees of the study programmes in the field of Informatics. Prof. Telksnys was elected as a member of the Re-establishment and subsequent VMU Senates.
On 25 May 2022, Prof. Dr. Habil. Telksnys was awarded the title of Honorary Professor of Vytautas Magnus University for his significant achievements in the field of information technologies and his merits to Vytautas Magnus University and for promoting the name of Lithuania worldwide.
On 15 February 2023, a solemn meeting of the VMU Senate took place in the VMU Great Hall (S. Daukanto g. 28), during which the regalia of the late VMU Honorary Professor Adolfas Laimutis Telksnys (1930-2022) was awarded to Prof. Telksnys’s daughter Audra Telksnytė.
