{"id":32623,"date":"2026-10-29T11:39:19","date_gmt":"2026-10-29T10:39:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspeninstitutece.org\/?post_type=news-article&#038;p=32623"},"modified":"2026-10-29T12:38:31","modified_gmt":"2026-10-29T11:38:31","slug":"president-petr-pavel-awards-ivan-hodac-the-medal-of-merit-in-memoriam","status":"publish","type":"news-article","link":"https:\/\/www.aspeninstitutece.org\/cs\/news-article\/president-petr-pavel-awards-ivan-hodac-the-medal-of-merit-in-memoriam\/","title":{"rendered":"President Petr Pavel Awards Ivan Hod\u00e1\u010d the Medal of Merit In Memoriam"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On 28 October, the anniversary of the founding of Czechoslovakia, President Petr Pavel posthumously awarded the <strong>Medal of Merit (Medaile Za z\u00e1sluhy) to Ivan Hod\u00e1\u010d<\/strong>, <strong>co-founder of Aspen Institute Central Europe, for his services to the state in the field of international relations.<\/strong> Ivan Hod\u00e1\u010d was distinguished as a leading figure in European public and economic life and a supporter of a new generation of democratic leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Dita Charanzov\u00e1, who led support for the nomination, said:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>&#8222;I\u2019m delighted that Ivan Hod\u00e1\u010d has been awarded the Medal of Merit in memoriam. Ivan was one of our country\u2019s most important and most respected unofficial ambassadors. For decades he worked for the benefit of the Czech Republic, contributed to the development of a democratic culture, and helped shape generations of people who today bear responsibility for our country\u2019s future. For me personally, Ivan was above all a person of exceptional integrity, professionalism and dedication to the public interest. It is people like him who help shape the character of our country. I am glad that Ivan has received this well-deserved recognition and that the Czech Republic remembers him with gratitude and respect.&#8220;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">She also stressed that the nomination would not have been possible had it not been for help and support of great many friends, colleagues and Alumni:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Dita Charanzov\u00e1 \u2013 Former Vice-President of the European Parliament (spearheaded the nomination)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Vladim\u00edr B\u00e4rtl \u2013 Czech Ambassador to the EU<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Tom\u00e1\u0161 Bo\u010dek \u2013 Vice-Governor, Council of Europe Development Bank<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Daniel Braun \u2013 CEO, GLOBSEC<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Daniela B\u0159\u00edzov\u00e1 Ratajov\u00e1 \u2013 Judge<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Yemi A.D. \u2013 Choreographer and Creative Director<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Gabriel Eichler \u2013 Entrepreneur and investor, founder of Benson Oak<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Dita Form\u00e1nkov\u00e1\u2013 Founder, Czechitas<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Jakub Hl\u00e1vka \u2013 Director, Institute for Health Economics, Policy and Innovation, Masaryk University<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Ond\u0159ej Houska \u2013 Journalist, editor at Hospod\u00e1\u0159sk\u00e9 noviny<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Martin Jahn \u2013 Member of the Board of Management, \u0160koda Auto<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Petr Jon\u00e1k \u2013 Board Member, Confederation of Industry of the Czech Republic<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>V\u011bra Jourov\u00e1 \u2013 Former Vice-President of the European Commission<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Tom\u00e1\u0161 Klva\u0148a \u2013 Executive Director, Aspen Institute Central Europe<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Karol\u00edna Kottov\u00e1 \u2013 Deputy Head of Cabinet of Marta Kos, Commissioner for Enlargement<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Ta\u0165\u00e1na le Moigne \u2013 Former CEO of Google for Central and Eastern Europe<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Jan Luka\u010devi\u010d \u2013 Scientist, NATO 2030 Young Leader<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Jan Mach\u00e1\u010dek \u2013 Commentator, analyst, President of the Strategeo Institute<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Ji\u0159\u00ed M\u00e1dl \u2013 Actor, director and screenwriter<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>V\u00e1clav Marhoul \u2013 Director, screenwriter and producer<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Marek Mora \u2013 Vice-President, European Investment Bank<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Zbyn\u011bk Pavla\u010d\u00edk \u2013 Chairman, Jagello 2000<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Pavel \u0158eh\u00e1k \u2013 Founder and CEO, Direct Group<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Michael Rozsypal \u2013 Moderator and journalist<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Tom\u00e1\u0161 Salomon \u2013 Chairman of the Board, \u010cesk\u00e1 spo\u0159itelna<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Radek \u0160picar \u2013 Vice-President, Confederation of Industry of the Czech Republic<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Filip \u0160v\u00e1b \u2013 Executive Director of External Affairs, AT&amp;T<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Zden\u011bk T\u016fma \u2013 Former Governor, Czech National Bank<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We are deeply honoured by this recognition. Ivan\u2019s legacy continues through the Ivan Hod\u00e1\u010d Aspen Young Leaders Program and the community of young leaders he spent the last chapter of his life building.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On 28 October, the anniversary of the founding of Czechoslovakia, President Petr Pavel posthumously awarded the Medal of Merit (Medaile Za z\u00e1sluhy) to Ivan Hod\u00e1\u010d, co-founder of Aspen Institute Central Europe, for his services to the state in the field of international relations. Ivan Hod\u00e1\u010d was distinguished as a leading figure in European public and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":32624,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"news-tag":[],"class_list":["post-32623","news-article","type-news-article","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspeninstitutece.org\/cs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-article\/32623","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspeninstitutece.org\/cs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-article"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspeninstitutece.org\/cs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news-article"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspeninstitutece.org\/cs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32624"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspeninstitutece.org\/cs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32623"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspeninstitutece.org\/cs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-tag?post=32623"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}