In Memoriam Prof. Mladen Jovanović, Ph. D.

Abstract

It is with great sadness that we commemorate the passing of Professor Mladen Jovanović, one of the most distinguished scholars at the English Department of Niš University, who left us on November 8th, 2014. He was among the first associates of the teaching staff and one of the best loved professors at the department. Many generations of students who had the privilige of being taught and instructed by professor Jovanović will remember him as an exceptional expert in his domain, a great pedagogue and a warm and radient person.

Professor Mladen Jovanović started his long-standing career at the Faculty of Philosophy in Niš in 1974. Until 1996, he devoted his life and energy to promoting the quality of the course of studies at the English department. He imbued the studies of English in Niš with his outstanding professionalism, unreserved devotion to work and highest-quality knowledge that he was skillful in presenting and passing on to his students with ease. Along with lecturing on Phonetics, Semantics and the English language at the department, professor Jovanović was a very successful translator and interpreter. Some of his career highlights include the fact that he was one of the founders on the Yugoslav Translators Association, the organizer and host of the World’s Translators’ Congress in Belgrade in 1991, a UN peace keepers’ force interpreter in Lebanon, etc. Moreover, he was the author of numerous books, including dictionaries, among which were Savremeni kolokvijalni englesko - srpski, srpsko – engleski rečnik and Školski englesko-srpski/srpsko-engleski rečnik, textbooks in linguistic disciplines and handbooks in translation and interpreting such as Tehnika prevodjenja: praktični deo, as well as a number of papers and articles, enthusiastically read by his students and colleagues alike, not only for their quality content, but also for the clear expression and uncomplicated language.

All of his grateful students will eternally keep in memory everything professor Jovanović had to teach them, not only about English, linguistics or translation, but also about life in general, about human kindness and the indispensable ingredients that composed a true professor.