On October 4, 2018, a ceremony was held in order to award the honorary title of Doctor Honoris Causa to

doc. Ing. arch. akad. arch. Ivan Gürtler, PhD.,

from the Department of Architecture of the Faculty of Civil Engineering of VŠB – Technical University of Ostrava. The title was granted for his outstanding contribution to the formation of the Faculty of Arts TUKE and his major contribution to its successful progress.

Mr. Ivan Gürtler, a student of Vladimír Karfík, a world-class professor, is a prominent figure in the field of Slovak and Czechoslovak architecture. Especially in the period after the social changes in 1989, he played an important role in transforming the teaching process in Slovakia. He worked as the Vice-dean for Pedagogy at the Faculty of Architecture of the Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava, was Chairman of the Authorisation Committee and later Chairman of the Provisional Senate of the Slovak Chamber of Architects. Between 1994 and 1996 he was the President of the Slovak Architects Society. Already from this position, he advocated the establishment of the architectural school in Košice. After the establishment of the Faculty of Arts TUKE in 1998, he became its tireless supporter and collaborator.

On the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the Faculty of Arts TUKE, the time has come to thank doc. Ivan Gürtler for his outstanding contribution to its establishment, formation and successful progress from its beginnings until today.