The Mayo Clinic has had an extensive cooperation with the International Clinical Research Center of the St. Anna´s University Hospital Brno, the Czech Republic. During the visit, the Prime Minister will be present at the signing of an agreement between these two institutions extending their cooperation till 2020. The cooperation has so far brought results in the form of 100 joint scientific articles, 8 international or US awards for young ICRC researchers and joint application for U.S. patent for newly developed technology to treat heart arrhythmia. 

 

Vibrant ties exist between the University of Minnesota and the Czech Republic, extending over a large number of fields, including history, arts, and special education. The most intense cooperation takes place again in medicine. The remarkable Proshek- Fulbright program has been supporting for years fellowships of the MD graduates from the Czech Republic at the University. These fellowships have proven to have a great impact on the careers of the Czech fellows. The Prime Minister will honor Charles E. Proshek, the late Honorary Consul of Czechoslovakia in Minnesota, in memoriam, with Karel Kramář Medal, which will be presented to his grandson, Dr. Charles A. Proshek. The merits of Professor Paul Quie and Associate Professor Veronika Bachanova, coordinators of the Proshek - Fulbright program as well as the late Honorary Consul of the Czech Republic in Minnesota, Prof. Josef Mestenhauser will also be recognized.

 

The Prime Minister will also meet representatives of three major investors in the Czech Republic: Donaldson, 3M and Chart Industries. He will discuss possibilities for a further strengthening cooperation in trade and investment as well as research, not only with them, but also with the Governor of Minnesota and other representatives of local administration as well as with the President of Minnesota High Tech Association. Mitas Tires North America will represent a successful Czech investment in the US, in the neighboring Iowa.

U.S. Midwest is the traditional center of Czech immigration in the USA. The first larger number of Czech immigrants arrived in the middle of the 19th century. The oldest Czech colony in Minnesota, New Prague, was founded in 1856, two years before Minnesota became the 32nd state of the USA. The first Czech-American organization called Slavic Linden was founded in Saint Paul in 1870. The first Sokol organization was founded in 1882. The towns of New Prague, Montgomery and Lonsdale have a particularly significant Czech past and still active Czech-American community. In maps on Minnesota, a number names of towns can be found that exist in the Czech Republic, including Bechyn, Trebon, Litomysl, Budejovice, Beroun and Veseli. These villages, however, exist rather only as small estates or even mere crossroads today. According to the Minnesota census, over 85 thousand Czech-Americans live in the state (4^th place in the United States). The Prime Minister is going to meet the local Czech-Americans in the building of Sokol Minnesota, which has remained the center of Czech-Americans in Saint Paul. Czech-Americans have prepared a traditional folklore program for the Prime Minister, singers and dancers of all ages will be performing.

 

Interesting facts about the town of New Prague, MN

http://www.newpraguetimes.com/content/czech-consul-general-visits-new-prague