The students of VGTU Environmental and Civil Engineering were awarded with Leonas Antanas Maskaliūnas nominal scholarships. L. A. Maskaliūnas is the patron of Vydūnas Youth Fund, founder and vice-president of "Lithuanian American cultural center", VGTU Honorary Member and highly regarded civil engineering professional. L. A. Maskaliūnas came to VGTU and handed scholarships to the students personally in a ceremony on June 2, 2016.

 

The purpose of the scholarship is to provide a non-refundable financial support to the students of VGTU faculties of Environmental and Civil Engineering, taking into account the social status of the candidates. Each faculty is granted five scholarships twice a year – in spring and fall semesters.

 

The scholarships were initiated last year by a civil engineer L. A. Maskaliūnas who was a chairman of Vydūnas Youth Fund at the time. Scholarships are paid from the scholarship fund, composed of personal contributions by L. A. Maskaliūnas, accumulated by the Vydūnas Youth Fund (Lemont, Illinois, USA).

 

Leonas Antanas Maskaliūnas is a public figure and highly regarded social activist in Lithuanian American community. He moved to Germany in 1944 where he studied civil engineering at the Baltic University in Hamburg. In 1950 he moved to the United States, where he graduated from the University of Illinois.

 

L. A. Maskaliūnas is one of the founders of scouts corporation "Vytis” at the Baltic University and the University of Illinois, where together with the like-minded students he also founded the Lithuanian students union. He was working as an engineer since 1955. L. A. Maskaliūnas served as a vice president of US engineering company in Bangkok in 1963–1973 and as a head of the Far East office later in South Korea. In 1977 he opened an office in Tehran with other Lithuanian engineers. L. A. Maskaliūnas was also working in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia for the international projects ordered by the US Army and Navy, and international banks.