Academy of Sciences and Arts of the Diaspora

From a meeting in Chicago

The Bosnian diaspora unites and performs musically, folklore, sports, regionally, and religiously, and thanks to the courtesy of the distinguished orthopedist-surgeon and professor at the University of El Paso, Texas, Enes Kanlić (whom we presented on the pages of Bosanska pošta), we learned that recently in the Second Assembly of BHAANU, the Bosnian-Herzegovinian-American Academy of Sciences and Arts held in Chicago. We talked about the history and work of this unique and precious institution with one of the founders and the first president of the Academy, Mirsad Hadžikadić, former dean of the College of Information Technology at the University of North Carolina in Charlotte, who is currently at Harvard, in addition to his master's and doctorate in computer engineering, acquiring a new master's degree in the field of management of governmental and non-governmental institutions and organizations and at the same time holding a chair in Charlotte. - With Kenan Arnautović, a neurosurgeon from Memphis, I initiated the establishment of the academy, says Hadžikadić. - At the founding meeting in Charlotte on March 11 last year, we formed the Board of Directors and agreed and statutorily regulated that the mission of BHAANU is to support, catalyze, and actively contribute to the development of science and culture within Bosnia and Herzegovina. diasporas in the USA and Canada, the gathering of BiH scientists and artists who want and can build a cognitive and creative structure within our diaspora and to build bridges of cooperation between the USA and BiH for the benefit of the development of science, art, and education in the "new and old region." BHAANU is not based on any political, national, or religious assumptions. Its goal is a unique, democratic, and prosperous state that will be based on modern scientific, cultural, and educational principles. - What was done between Charlotte and Chicago? - Considering our regular obligations—enough. The founding meeting was attended by 14, and today the Academy has 46 members from various scientific and artistic fields: medicine, pharmacy, information technology, physics, legal sciences, literature, history, psychology, English language, education, etc. That number continues to increase because the process of evaluation and admission of newly registered candidates was carried out throughout the year. Members of the Academy come from a large number of American states and the world through regular and supplementary membership. Last year was spent supplementing the definition of Academy membership categories, finalizing the statutes, building a website, and organizing the Second Assembly in Chicago, where the official reception of new regular, corresponding, "young" and honorary members of the Academy took place, the plan and program for the following year were adopted, the Board of Directors was expanded, a series of professional and practical presentations were held, and the handover of the duties of the president took place. Eldin Karaiković, a professor at Northwestern University in Chicago, was elected as the new president. - Have you established contact with the Academy of Bosnia and Herzegovina in Sarajevo? - As an honored guest, I participated in the work of the First Congress of Scientists from the Diaspora and Bosnia and Herzegovina, organized by the then Minister of Science and Higher Education of the Sarajevo Canton, Dr. Emir Turkušić, where the germ of the need to organize the scientific and cultural forces of the Diaspora by geographic region was probably conceived. Also, Kenan Arnautović, in addition to other medical experts—members of BHAAN—is actively and occasionally involved in the work of the Bosnia and Herzegovina Medical Initiative initiated by the director of the Koševo Clinical Center, Dr. Faris Gavrankapetanović. All this is not in the scope that we want or how much we can provide. The reason is that we are still working on defining the appropriate approach to that cooperation. Namely, the word academy has different connotations in the American and Bosnian communities. The Academy of Sciences and Arts of BiH (ANUBiH) is an official state organization with a mandate to promote the development of science and art in all aspects of social activity. In the USA, academies can be established by groups of citizens with clearly defined goals of the organization, criteria for admission to membership, and a plan and program of work. The activities of BHAANU will cover a wider range of activities than is the case with ANUBiH. We are currently developing our work plan and program, and some of these activities will require a concrete dialogue with ANUBiH. It means that we will contact AnubiH with a proposal for cooperation on specific projects and initiatives. We hope that they will accept the offered cooperation with the same enthusiasm with which we will approach it. If you are interested in anything else, you can find it on our website: https://bhaaas.org/. The web address, among other things, contains the names of regular, corresponding, and honorary members of the first Academy of Art Sciences of the Diaspora with their professional titles and a description of the jobs they perform. For this occasion, we will list some of the universities in the USA where they teach: York, North Carolina, Tennessee, Yale, Wittenberg, Texas, Boston, California, Santa Clara, Northwestern, Louisville, Yeshiva, Rush, Michigan, Yale... And when you open the web, they welcome you, among other things, they say, "The Academy intends to connect Bosnian scientists, artists, and individuals prominent in their professional fields, as well as to build bridges of cooperation with the homeland. The Academy will promote the spirit of intellectual diversity and the free exchange of ideas among the diaspora in the belief that knowledge is wealth that can and should be shared. Downloaded from: http://www.bosanskaposta.no