Associate Professor Dr. Aleksandar Yordanov – Honorary Chairman
Associate Prof. Dr. Aleksandar Yordanov was born in 1952 in the city of Varna. He is a politician and diplomat, literature historian and literary critic; Associate Professor at the Literature Institute of the Bulgarian Academy of Science. Aleksandar Yordanov is the Head of the Social and Humanitarian Sciences Department and Associate Professor in European Values and Culture at the European Polytechnic University. He was a representative at the Seventh Grand National Assembly (1990-1991), Chairman of the 36 National Assembly (1992-1994), Member of Parliament at the 37 and 38 National Assembly (1994-1998), Ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary of Bulgaria to Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia (1998-2001) and to Republic of Macedonia (2001-2005); Editor-in chief of the weekly newspaper for politics and culture „Vek (Century) 21©“ (1990-1998). Author of: ‘Personalities and Ideas’ (1986); ‘In the Shadow of Words’ (1989); ‘Yours-and-not-yours Modernism’ (1993); ‘Hope against the Timelessness’ (1993); ‘Let’s Breach the Scenario!’ (2008); ‘Return’ (2006); ‘Time for Opposition’ (2008); ‘It’s a Nice Day Today!’ (2008); ‘Blogo, ergo sum!’ (2012); Lonely and Dignified. Prof. Dr. Konstantin Galabov – Life, Works, Ideas.’ (2012).
Armen Lyudvigovich Nazaryan - Member of the Honorary Chairmanship
Armen Nazaryan was born in 1974 in the town of Masis, Armenia. He takes up wrestling in 1982. Since 1996 he has been competing for Bulgaria. In 1997 he receives Bulgarian citizenship with a President’s decree. He is a double Olympics champion, 3 times a World champion and 6 times European champion. As a Bulgarian athlete Armen Nazaryan has won twelve medals at Olympic Games, World and European Championships. He is the only wrestler in the world who has won all championships in two successive years – 2002 and 2003. Armen Nazaryan has been twice appointed for wrestler number one on the planet and has won twice the golden belt ‘Nikola Petrov’. His name is on the Wall of Glory of FILA. In 2005 he is admitted to the Hall of Glory in USA.
Archimandrite Antim - Member of the Honorary Chairmanship
Archimandrite Antim was born in 1983 in the town of Blagoevgrad. He was ordained a monk during the Advent in 1999, ordained senior deacon on 27. 07. 2000, ordained senior monk on 27. 07. 2001, ordained Archimandrite on 29. 04. 2007. Since 2008, His Reverence Archimandrite Antim is a coadjutor of Vidin diocese.
Valya Balkaska – Honorary member of the Chairmanship
Valya Balkanska was born on January 8, 1942 in Lukat pendulums, which consists of seven houses and is situated above the village of Arda, Smolyan. From an early age she began singing inspiring folk songs with an unparalleled talent.
Gifted with a cosmic voice, the singer has performed over 300 songs that conquered Bulgaria and the world’s biggest stages. Undoubtedly the most famous song of Valya Balkanska was “Izlel Delyu rebel”. In 1972 this record was included in the Golden disk of music from Earth and sent into space with the station “Voyager” 1 and 2 in 1977. For many years Valya Balkanska is the soloist of the “Rhodope” Ensemble – Smolyan, which promotes the Bulgarian folk songs in the country and around the world. During December 2005, the folk singer receives her own star plaque in the Bulgarian Walk of Fame.
Evgeni Kuzmanov – Honorary Member of the Cairmanship
Born on 13 May 1941.Prof. Evgeni Georgiev Kuzmanov is a Bulgarian artist, writer and university lecturer .He graduated sculpture at the National Art Academy “Nikolay Pavlovich”- Sofia.
His plastic works and paintings are owned by the National Gallery of Art, Sofia Art Gallery and private collections in France, the Netherlands ,Belgium, Germany and Russia.
He is professor of Sculpture at the Department of Fine Arts at Southwestern University “Neophiyte Rilski” in the town of Blagoevgrad. Author of 11 books – novels, novellas, short stories. Winner of the Graviton Award (1996).
Brigadier General Gerald Karner –Honorary Member of the Chairmanship
Born 1955 raised in Austria; 1979 Graduate of the Maria Theresian Military Academy, Wr. Neustadt, Aust
ria; executive functions in the Austrian Armed Forces. 1988 Graduation as Officer of General Staff from the Austrian National Defence Academy; studies and graduation (MSc) in Political Sciences, University of Vienna; employment in the Austrian Federal Ministry of defence. From 1993 reorganization of the edition department of the OEMZ (Austrian Military and Security Political Journal ) as Editor-in-chief; 1998 graduate of the US Army Was College, Carlisle, PA. 1999 graduation from the Higher Management Seminar of the Defence Academy of the German Armed Forces, Hamburg. 2001/2002 Member of the steering group of the project “Reorganization of the Federal Ministry of Defence and the Higher Staff Levels of the Austrian Armed Forces. From 2002 Head of Department of Military Strategy in the Austrian Ministry of Defence; 2003/2004 Member of the Political-Military Commission for Reorganization of the Austrian Armed Forces and afterwards of the Armed Forces Transformation Planning Group. 2006 Gerald Karner left the Austrian Armed Forces and joined the HILL – Group as Partner with HILL Communications, Department for Strategic Planning, Management and Leadership, Organizational Development; 2006/2007 General Manager of HILL Communications. From 2008 independent consultant for Strategy and Organizational Development Since 2011 Managing Director of Aventus GmbH, Vienna Several Publications to Questions of Security and Defence Policy, Management, Leadership, and Strategic Planning.
Numerous Interviews for the Austrian Broadcasting Company (ORF) and other Austrian and international channels. 2003 Austrian National Award for Achievements in Media Support for National Defence.
Numerous Business Trainings in Management, Leadership and Strategy. Co-Author of the Management – Bestseller “Das Prinzip Fuhrung” (“Leadership and Management”).
Prof. Dr. Norbert Gutknecht Honorarymember of the Chairmanship
Norbert Gutknecht was born on January 24th, 1954 in Mannheim, Germany. He graduated his primary school in Johannesburg, South Africa in 1962 and in 1970-secondary school at the School of Economics, Mosbach/Baden, Germany. From 1970 to 1972 he received professional education as an Industrial Business Management Administrator and in 1972 he received an appointment to work at “Gmeinder & Co” in Mosbach/Baden, Germany. Through 1974-1976 he studied at Holistic Medicine College in Bochum and in 1977 he completed an Internship in naturopathic practice and physiotherapy center Rosenthal, Iserlohn. In 1979 he graduated Westfalenkolleg Dortmund and until 1989 he studied medicine and dentistry at the University of Bochum, Germany, Florence and Italy. In 1989 he received a medical license at Aachen University, Germany. In 1991 he was granted a qualification to train laser safety at the Laser Medicine Center at the University of Berlin Germany and in 1993 he received PhD in Aachen, Germany with the topic “Epidemiological occurrence of caries among the Bantu population of South Africa”.
During the period 1991-1994 he continued his Dental Laser Education at the San Francisco University , California and in 1995 he was granted Master Status at “Nd : YAG Laser”, Phoenix , Arizona. In 1998 he was honored habilitation, Associate professor VENIA LEGENDI in Dentistry. 5 years later was already a full professor at RWTH Aachen University Medical and Dental Faculty, Department of Operative Dentistry, Periodontology and Preventive Dentistry. 3 months later in the same year he became a Scientific Director of the postgraduate dental Education and master course Master of Science in “Lasers in Dentistry” at RWTH Aachen University.
His Professional career after graduation in dentistry includes International Health Organization with sojourns in the USA and East Africa , Assistant doctor at the university hospital Aachen , Clinic for conservative dentistry , periodontics and preventive dentistry, Laser Safety Officer at the University Hospital Aachen, Scientific director of the “Aachener Dental Laser Center”(AALZ), Head of department at the Clinic for conservative dentistry , periodontics and preventive dentistry at the University Hospital Aachen. Since 2003 he was Attorney of the clinic director of the Clinic for conservative dentistry, periodontics and preventive dentistry and Scientific chairman of the post graduate course Master of Science in “Lasers in Dentistry” at RWTH Aachen University. Since 2007 he is Founder and Scientific director of the World Academy for Education in Laser Dentistry –WALED.
His academic career started with first scientific publication as the first author and First international scientific lecture at the FDI congress in Milano, Italy. He was Guest speaker at 59 conferences around the world and a congress president of the 1st Congress of the European Society for Oral Laser Applications, 10th Congress of the German Society for Laser Dentistry, as well as Organizing Chairman of the 10th ISLD World Congress in Berlin. On the occasion of the 7 World Congress in Brussels, Belgium, he was elected in the Executive Board of the International Society for Laser Dentistry.
