Last week the President of Latvia, Valdis Zatlers, gave the country’s most prestigious award in education to an Icelander. This year the Atis Kronvalds award was given to Dr. Benedikt Jóhannesson, a man who is the general manager of Talnakönnun, a statistics consulting company, as well as of Heimur Publishing, the publisher of the Iceland Review.
Dr. Jóhannesson worked with the LAIMA project in Latvia order to produce and publish several books on the subject of advanced mathematics targeted towards students in middle and high schools in the Baltic country.
The award was presented to Dr. Jóhannesson in the capital Riga, at the presidential palace. President Zatlers was joined by the Minister of Education, Baiba Rivza, who spoke at the ceremony.
Rivza spoke about the positive impact that the LAIMA project has had on students in Latvia. The project’s goal is to push students in developing their mathematical capabilities beyond what is normally taught in school. Rivza welcomed the assistance of the Icelandic publisher in this project.
This is the first time that the award has been given to a non-Latvian. Dr. Jóhannesson said, “it was a great honor” to be given the award.