A proficient expert on Central Europe, and a skilled researcher in international relations Michal Ko\u0159an becomes the Deputy Executive Director at Aspen Institute Central Europe (ACE) as of June 1, 2017. He will succeed Maria Staszkiewicz who leaves this position after five years of dedicated work that helped to establish the Aspen Institute in Prague and to set its mark in the region.<\/p>\n
Ji\u0159\u00ed Schneider, ACE Executive Director, welcomes Michal Ko\u0159an to the team of the Aspen Institute: \u201cI am confident that Michal\u2019s professional expertise and wide network of contacts will contribute to Aspen Institute\u2019s activities across the Central European region<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI believe it is now \u2013 more than ever \u2013 crucial to fight for an unbiased, plural and open platform as a basis for a frank and respectful engagement in sharing opinions and views. I see the Aspen Institute as an irreplaceable intersection of\u00a0views, ideas, enterprises, people and communities in Central Europe.\u00a0The Aspen Institute is a unique platform to pursue efforts to reverse the trend of building mental and physical barriers and to make best of current technological and social changes<\/em>,\u201d states Michal Ko\u0159an<\/strong>, the new ACE\u2019s Deputy Executive Director.<\/p>\n Aspen Institute Central Europe is a public benefit organization based in Prague. From 2012 it is the Central European partner of a global Aspen network and serves as a non-ideological platform where representatives of politics, NGOs, business as well as personalities from the arts, sports and science can meet. ACE\u2019s aim is to develop interdisciplinary cooperation and support of Central European leaders from different sectors in their personal and professional development and to foster the values of an open and democratic society.<\/p>\n Michal Ko\u0159an graduated from the Masaryk University in 2004 and obtained his Ph.D. at the same university in 2008. In 2005, he joined the Institute of International Relations in Prague as a researcher and served later as the Head of Research Department and as a Deputy Director. Since 2009, he is also an Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Social Studies in Brno. In 2012, he received a Fulbright Scholarship as a Research Fellow at the WCFIA, Harvard University.<\/p>\nMichal Ko\u0159an<\/h2>\n