Mykolas Jurgis Drunga

Garbės daktaras / Honorary Doctor (Suteiktas vardas 2018-02-28)

Dr. Mykolas Jurgis Drunga was an Associate Professor in the Department of Public Communications at Vytautas Magnus University, a Lithuanian-American journalist, philosopher, and translator.

By the decision of the Senate, Assoc. Prof. Drunga was awarded the regalia of VMU Honorary Doctor in recognition of his contributions to independent Lithuania, fostering of humanistic cultural and democratic values, and promotion of the name of Vytautas Magnus University.

Born in the diaspora, in Tübingen (Germany), Drunga and his family moved to New York, USA, in 1959, and later relocated to Chicago, where he attended Prof. Vladas Jakubėnas’ private piano studio and studied at a private Catholic gymnasium. He graduated from the Lithuanian Institute of Education in Chicago in 1968 and received a Bachelor’s degree in Philosophy from the University of Chicago in 1969. Drunga also studied philosophy at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Drunga worked as a teacher at Lithuanian Saturday schools, as the editor-in-chief of the Annals of the Lithuanian Students’ Union, and as an instructor in the Department of Philosophy at MIT. In 1972, he co-founded the radio programme “Garso bangos” (Sound Waves) and produced cultural programmes on Lithuanian literature and music. He won the Armstrong Prize for his programme on Čiurlionis’ music.

Mykolas Drunga also served as an editor of various publications and journals, including volumes 4-5 of Encyclopedia Lituanica, the Annals of the Lithuanian Students’ Union, the weekly newspapers Keleivis and Vienybė, the journal Lituanus, and the Lithuanian-American magazine The Observer, among others. He was also a collaborator with the daily newspaper Draugas and the weekly newspaper Vienybė, as well as a translator for the journal Baltic Forum.

From 1990, he was the editor of the Lithuanian programmes at Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty in Munich, and from 1995, in Prague. When George W. Bush cut off the radio station’s funding because of the war in Iraq, he returned to Lithuania. From 2004, he worked at the Centre for Immigration Studies of Vytautas Magnus University and at Lithuanian State Radio.

He actively participated in social activities and served as a member, chairperson, or board member of various organisations, including the Santara-Šviesa organisation, the Lithuanian American Community Council, the Lithuanian World Community, the Press and Information Commission, and the Lithuanian Foundation Council.