Slovakia’s president, Andrej Kiska, visits MIT
Last Friday, Slovak President Andrej Kiska, along with a delegation from Slovakia, visited MIT to discuss topics including innovation, entrepreneurship, and online learning. Trained as an electrical engineer, Kiska gained prominence as a businessman in Slovakia’s consumer credit industry. Last March, he defeated Prime Minister Robert Fico in a runoff election to become Slovakia’s president. Also a noted philanthropist, Kiska had no previous political experience before taking office. Kiska and his delegation began their visit with an overview of MIT, including the Institute’s strong global connections, presented by Philip S. Khoury, the Ford International Professor of History and associate provost, and Bernd Widdig, director of international affairs. Khoury and Widdig described MIT’s international ties, from its diverse campus community to partnerships such as the Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology. Following the presentation by Khoury and Widdig, Kiska and his delegation met with Sanjay Sarma, MIT’s director of digital learning. Sarma discussed both...