New RSU Vice-Rector Dins Šmits stands for excellence and human dignity

After working in many different positions at Rīga Stradiņš University (RSU) over several years, starting from the Chair of the Alumni Association Board to lecturer and lead researcher, Dins Šmits was appointed Vice-Rector for Academic Affairs on 1 May this year.

Although Šmits' childhood dream was to become a doctor, life took a different turn and lead him onto the management and business path. There is a reason why he goes through his life with the motto "Be on the move!". A doctor by qualification, he has a master's degree in business and a PhD in public health and medicine. He has acquired extensive experience in various management positions in both local and international companies.

Maybe you wanted to become a vice-rector when you were a child?

(Laughs.) My father is a doctor and I wanted to be a doctor throughout my childhood and youth up to my residency. In the early 1990s when I was dong my residency, there was little or no money for doctors, however, and I ended up in the pharmaceutical industry in a British company. Here I gradually progressed, eventually becoming a local manager and then, as my responsibilities increased, a manager of several business areas in the Central European region of the company. Next I became Chairperson of the Board at Pauls Stradiņš Clinical University Hospital, followed by a job in a large private company connected to the health sector here in Latvia. In addition, I have invested time in public or representative organisations in the fields of health and education. I have always been a manager of my own or others' companies, mainly in the health field.

Which areas of responsibility will you take on in your new role?

The social sciences subjects and faculties and other affiliated bodies such as the Department of Humanities and the Language Centre. Also, the so-called support departments, such as the Academic Affairs Department, the Centre for Educational Growth, and the Centre for Continuing Education, which provide the core functions and are essential and absolutely indispensable departments. I am also responsible for the cooperation between the academic processes at RSU and the Research Department to further research excellence at RSU. In academic terms, this means supporting research-based studies. I will also be responsible for developing innovation.

What changes do you want to introduce to the university?

The demand for changes comes from external parties. The legislative framework for higher education has undergone major changes, and universities' governance structure has been changed. Thanks to prior achievements, RSU is included in the group of research universities. In addition, like other universities, we have received change mandates from the government. These include improving management efficiency, and interdisciplinary studies by promoting the sharing study modules and courses, improving cooperation with the industry by implementing studies that meet labour market requirements, promoting research excellence by strengthening research institutions and their cooperation. Changes are either revolutionary or evolutionary. Although external expectations are formidable, I do not believe that RSU needs revolutionary changes, but like any organisation there is room for improvement.

RSU has a well-designed, well-managed structure and system. RSU's strength lies in the people that work here – teaching staff, researchers, administrative staff and students. Our people are the University's special asset that makes us stand out.

So going forward, we will build on a solid foundation of engaging and empowering our people to achieve new levels of excellence.

When starting a job, there is a unique opportunity to pose the question 'why is it this way?', to understand and then act accordingly. You could say that my biggest obsession is quality. This has been the case in all the jobs I've had so far.

As a university, our biggest challenge is to enable everyone to reach their full potential, and perhaps even more. We can't do anything for them, but we can give them the chance to excel.

This can be done through research-based quality content (what we teach), inspiring lecturers and engaging formats (how we teach), in a modern environment that is fit for purpose (where we teach). And perhaps most importantly, through the development of curiosity, the skills to find and gather information, critically evaluate it and draw conclusions, and the desire and structure to create new knowledge (research methods). On top of that, we have given people the chance to develop social skills, to work, and be together with other people. We have prepared people to understand and improve our ever-changing world by supporting them to live happy and fulfilled lives.

During their studies, students need to understand and learn that they must be constantly learning and developing. In today's fast-paced world, we need to be able to change and adapt to new circumstances. If you don't, life becomes boring and less successful.

As we move along the path of development, it is important to assess what is it that RSU can offer and do better than others, where we can excel, and build on that.

I need to identify which are the research areas and study programmes where we will achieve international results and objective evaluation. These are very pragmatic decisions that determine where we invest our energy and resources. It also forces us to decide which topics might not be worth investing our efforts in.

The real world is interdisciplinary where people from different backgrounds and expertise pursue common goals. We need to assess and improve our study programmes and research themes accordingly. Health is a significant strategic direction for RSU, so I will give an example to illustrate what I mean by interdisciplinarity. The Covid-19 pandemic and how it affected our lives is fresh in all our minds. Here I would like to quote a colleague from RSU who shows the following text in his presentations "Vaccines do not save lives. Vaccination saves lives". This simple message demonstrates interdisciplinarity: medical and biological scientists develop and test vaccines, while social scientists assess society, help design appropriate policies, create economic rationales, research and recommend communication and legal methods. Only in this way can results be achieved (or fail to be achieved) in public behaviour. Similarly, we could look at, for example, tackling the health crisis through digital methods, the impact of the number of sports lessons on children's health now and later in life, and countless other interesting and valuable topics.

My task is to create an environment, an administrative structure, in which interdisciplinarity and collaboration between different disciplines can take place better than before, and so that this can result in broader, more modern study programmes.

What professional knowledge and previous experience could be most useful to you in your new role?

My experience from management is to deliver results in very different environments with all kinds of people. Another of my strengths is technical knowledge, i.e. I know how finance works, what processes are involved in governance, etc.

But the biggest added value I hope I have is my ability to unlock people's abilities and potential, i.e. to see the my colleagues' potential and let them do their best work, both individually and together in a group, through encouragement, evaluation and negotiation on my part.

My management style is collegial, it will never be directive or authoritarian, because I think it is more appropriate for other environments. At RSU, we work together with excellent, academically educated and intelligent colleagues, where we can learn from each other and improve. I have already gained a lot from my colleagues and I am grateful for that. The question is how I can, by working together, by pushing, by challenging and even pushing beyond their comfort zone, enable my colleagues to achieve more. And I do this with the highest human dignity - I believe that people do as well as they can when we are clear about what the expectations are and when there are sufficient resources. Everyone can make mistakes. What matters is what we do with the mistakes - if we learn from them and act accordingly, then it's OK. If we try to brush them under the carpet or point fingers at others, that is not acceptable.

Another important thing is that once we all agree on the goals and objectives, let’s get going! Then there is no backtracking. Things won't always be perfect, but we try to find the best way and the best method.

Who are the people who have contributed to your growth and development?

There are many. The foundation of everything is undoubtedly my parents, and even now my whole family encourages me to keep developing. Outside my family I remember my university professors the most. I would like to mention professor Genovefa Jēča from the Department of Anatomy, who was a great personality and taught me how to behave in life. She was like a mother hen: supportive on the one hand and demanding on the other. I would also like to mention two professors of surgery - Andrejs Pavārs and Viesturs Boks. They not only gave me the foundations of my professional knowledge, but also of life and attitude. There are certainly many more... I remember having interesting conversations with Dr Juris Lazovskis, the son of Ilmārs Lazovskis, who now works and lives in Canada, but used to teach internal medicine to us.

Artificial intelligence is developing rapidly – it can write a poem, a report, design a poster, etc. for us. Will the value of education be diminished in the future if AI does everything for us?

There are different ways to name it. The most popular term for it is "artificial intelligence". But in mathematical terms, it is simply an algorithm which even its creators don't fully understand.

One of the hallmarks of our times is that there are more and more processes, devices, events and circumstances that relatively fewer people understand precisely. In other words, many of the modern things we see every day could be called a miracle, because we don't know how they work, how they are made, etc.

But education and research are at the heart of everything! If the need for AI increases, so will the importance of education and research.

Maybe people will just group themselves into those who understand and participate in this innovation through education and research, and those who just consume and have no idea how it works. At RSU, we educate the first group!

You have many duties and responsibilities. Where do you find the time to manage everything?

It is neither possible nor necessary to do everything. I am still trying to decide what is more important and what is less important. You need to be able to categorise. I have great supportive colleagues around me, so I know we can do anything.

How do you relax?

I read books, move and try to spend as much time as possible with my family and loved ones.

But every day you have to exercise your mind by reading books, doing crosswords or playing mind games in addition to your work tasks. You need to move every day to have energy, to reduce your risk for Alzheimer's and to keep your blood vessels from clogging.

As we started talking about reading books, what books that you've read recently would you recommend?

Kalendārs mani sauc (Call me Calendar) by Andris Kalnozols. I also recommend Latvian classics that I recently re-read. I had to go to a play, so I re-read Jāzeps un viņa brāļi (Joseph and His Brothers) and Spēlēju, dancoju (I Played, I Danced) by Rainis. Both are brilliant.

In English, I recommend the unofficial biography of the great Henry Kissinger, Kissinger: A Biography (author: Walter Isaacson). Henry Kissinger was a tenure-track professor, a researcher, the US Secretary of State, who came to the US from Nazi-torn Germany. He would have turned 100 this May.  Kissinger's latest book, Leadership: Six Studies in World Strategy (2022), which my children gave to me for my birthday this year, is also good. I read about politics as well as biographies and fascinating novels.