Valdas Adamkus was born in 1926. November 3 In Kaunas, in a family of servants. Attended Jonas Jablonskis primary school, studied at Kaunas "Aušros" gymnasium. During the war, he participated in resistance activities. In July 1944, he moved to Germany with his parents. In Germany, V.Adamkus graduated from the Lithuanian high school, studied at the University of Munich, Faculty of Natural Sciences. in 1949 came to the United States. Worked as a worker in an auto parts factory in Chicago, later as a draftsman in an engineering firm. In the 1960s, V. Adamkus graduated from the Illinois Institute of Technology with a degree in construction engineering. At the beginning of the 1970s, V. Adamkus was invited to work at the Environmental Protection Agency, a federal government institution for environmental protection in the United States. Headed the Environmental Protection Research Center, later he was appointed deputy administrator of the fifth region (Midwest) of the Environmental Protection Agency. in 1981 became the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency of this region.V. Adamkus was an active participant and organizer of sports events.
in 1948 He won two gold and two silver medals in athletics at the Olympiad of Enslaved Nations held in Germany. in 1951 V. Adamkus established the US Lithuanian Academic Sports Club "Lituanica. He was the chairman of the organizing committee of the World Lithuanian Games held in 1983. V. Adamkus actively participated in the social and political activities of the Lithuanian diaspora. 1958-1965 was the "Santaras-Šviesa Federation" - a liberal expatriate social organization that announced the slogan "I face Lithuania, vice-chairman", and in 1967 was elected chairman of this organization.
While living in the USA, he organized protest actions and various petitions against the occupation of Lithuania. 1961-1964 was a member of the Council of the American Lithuanian Community (LB), the vice-chairman of the board of this Council's center and a member of the American Council of Lithuanians (ALT). From 1972, V. Adamkus came to Lithuania every year, and sometimes several times a year. He encouraged and supported the construction of water purification facilities, the development of environmental monitoring, and helped the environmental institutions of the Baltic countries to acquire scientific literature, devices and software.
As the environmental protection coordinator of the US support to the Baltic countries, V. Adamkus organized the internships of representatives of Lithuanian scientific institutions in the US, helped the library of Vilnius University to acquire the latest scientific literature. in 1993 V. Adamkus was the head of the election campaign of Stasios Lozoraitis, a candidate for the President of the Republic of Lithuania.
in 1996 V. Adamkus actively participated in the election campaign of the Lithuanian Seimas, mobilizing the moderate political forces of the middle. in 1998 V. Adamkus was elected President of the Republic of Lithuania. He started this position in 1998. February 26The President of the Republic of Lithuania V. Adamkus consistently defends the principles of the rule of law. Based on the powers granted by the Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania, V. Adamkus paid a lot of attention to ensuring the quality of legal acts. He actively supported the preparation and adoption of new codified legal acts - the Criminal and Civil Codes.
Since 1998 until 2001 In December, the President submitted 44 draft legal acts to the Seimas, returned 49 laws to the Seimas for reconsideration. One of the main directions of the President's activities is the improvement of legislation. in 2000 December 20 By presidential decree, a commission was established to prepare a legislative model. The Commission is tasked with initiating a complex scientific study of the state of law and legislation in Lithuania and, based on it, to prepare an optimal legislative model and proposals for implementing this model. The President sought that the adopted legal acts be consistently implemented. During his term of office, administrative courts were established and began to function. Much attention was paid to strengthening law enforcement and the fight against corruption.in 1988 V. Adamkus was awarded the International Award for outstanding merits on an international level in matters of nature conservation. Awarded the Gold Medal of the US Environmental Protection Agency, he received the US President's Award for Distinguished Service. V. Adamkus is a graduate of Vilnius University (1989), Indiana State St. Joseph's College (USA, 1991), Northwestern University (USA, 1994), Kaunas University of Technology (1998), Catholic University of America (USA, 1998), Lithuanian University of Agriculture (1999), Honorary Doctor of the Illinois Institute of Technology (1999), De Paul University of Chicago (USA, 2001) and Honorary Professor of Astana University (Kazakhstan, 2000).
