Gori State University Names Its English Library After Former Peace Corps Volunteer Edward Raupp
On February 10, 2007, Gori State University held a ceremony to rename its English language library in honor of former Peace Corps Volunteer Edward Raupp. The ceremony was attended by U.S. Embassy Public Affairs Officer Rowena Cross-Najafi, Country Director of the Peace Corps in Georgia Kathleen Sifer, and Peace Corps Program and Training Officer Mary Gunderson.
Mr. Raupp arrived in Georgia four years ago to teach English at Gori State University. He worked together with his Georgian counterpart Dr. Zurab Chkhikvadze, Dean of the Liberal Arts Department, to improve the English language library. Thanks to their combined efforts, today the library holds over 3,300 books and publications in English. The library holdings were mostly the result of U.S. donations from private citizens, including a major book donation from Ms. Pamela Shea, who collects publications throughout Minnesota and ships them to Gori.
For his contributions to the development of education in Georgia, Mr. Raupp was elected honorary professor of Gori State University. Together with Georgian colleagues, he also translated and published a book of selected poems by the 20th century Georgian poet Terenti Graneli. Mr. Raupp continues to teach at Gori State University; in 2005 he was also elected Chancellor of the Georgian University of Social Sciences, a new private university in Tbilisi. |
