On Wednesday, March 5, 2025, Tomas Bata University in Zlín held a formal academic assembly, the highlight of which was the conferment of an honorary doctorate upon Professor Vladimír Kučera, a distinguished figure in the field of automatic control. Professor Kučera, a long-standing researcher at the Czech Institute of Informatics, Robotics, and Cybernetics, was recognized for his significant contributions to technical cybernetics and automation.
„In the case of Professor Kučera, we are dealing with an exceptional scientific and pedagogical figure of global stature. Our university greatly values its collaboration with him, particularly given his repeated visits to the Department of Automation—then part of the Faculty of Technology at Brno University of Technology, based in Zlín—at the turn of the 1980s and 1990s, where he lectured on the algebraic approach to discrete control. Following the establishment of Tomas Bata University in Zlín, he served as a member of the University Scientific Council (2001–2011), and this engagement continued after the founding of the Faculty of Applied Informatics in 2006, where he was a member of its Scientific Council for four years,“ stated UTB Rector Professor Milan Adámek in his remarks on the award.
The ceremonial event, held in the UTB auditorium in Zlín, served not only as a dignified recognition of Professor Kučera’s work but also as further confirmation of his outstanding standing within the global scientific community.
On the same occasion, UTB Rector Professor Milan Adámek also presented the Rector’s Awards to two distinguished university staff members: Professor Jan Gogola and Dr. Tomáš Sysala.
Additional recognitions and awards of Professor Kučera
Born in 1943 in Prague, Professor Kučera has dedicated his career to the analysis and synthesis of control systems. He holds the distinction of being the first Czech scholar elected as a member of the prestigious Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and has received numerous accolades, including the highest scientific award in the Czech Republic, the „Česká hlava“ (Czech Brain) award, in 2021. In 2023, he was elected a member of the American Philosophical Society—an honor previously bestowed upon only three Czech figures: Masaryk, Beneš, and Havel. This prestigious title underscores his exceptional contributions to science and the international academic community.
At the joint SSSC – TDS – LPVS conference of the International Federation of Automatic Control (IFAC), held in Montreal, Canada, from September 27 to 30, 2022, Professor Kučera was awarded the IFAC System Structure and Control Lifetime Achievement Award 2022. This accolade reaffirms his outstanding contributions to system structure and control, as well as his long-term commitment to excellence in the field.
Source: UTB
