In memoriam Andrejs Rauhvargers (29.04.1952. – 15.03.2026.)

Asst. Prof. Andrejs Rauhvargers, former Head of the Department of Chemistry of the Medical Academy of Latvia (now Rīga Stradiņš University) passed away on 15 March. 

Andrejs Rauhvargers was born on 29 April 1952, in Riga. He studied at the Faculty of Chemistry of the University of Latvia (1970–1975), specialising in radiation chemistry, followed by doctoral studies (1975–1978), and later serving as a junior research fellow at the Faculty of Chemistry (1979–1980). In 1979, he obtained a doctoral degree in chemistry, while from 1981 to 1982, completed internship at the University of Jyväskylä in Finland. 

Since 1980, Rauhvargers was a lecturer at the Department of Chemistry of the Rīga Medical Institute (the name of RSU from 1950 to 1990), and in 1986 elected as assistant professor. In 1984, the department was renamed to the Department of Bioinorganic and Biophysical Chemistry, which he headed from 1984 to 1993. He authored more than 40 scientific and methodological works, including in English.

Rauhvargers was one of the first to teach in the newly established International Student Department at the Medical Academy of Latvia (from 1990), as he was fluent in English to be unusual in the academy at that time. He served as Vice-Rector for International Student Affairs (1993).

In 1993, Rauhvargers was invited to join the Ministry of Education and Science of Latvia, where he was involved in projects related to the international recognition of Latvian higher education diplomas in Europe. He was repeatedly elected President of the European Network for the Recognition of Qualifications (1999–2008) and was also one of the founders of the Academic Information Centre in Latvia (1994).

Rauhvargers was Secretary General of the Latvian Rectors’ Council (2001–2015). In 2015, he returned to the Academic Information Centre, participating in the establishment of the Higher Education Quality Agency, and was the first head of the agency. He was a professor at the University of Latvia.