Dusan Savicevic, PhD
Hall of Fame Class of 2006 - European
For nearly 50 years, Dusan Savicevic, PhD, has made major contributions to the field of adult and continuing education and is regarded as one of the leading experts in andragogy (adult education) in South-Eastern Europe. He has worked internationally, in institutions for the development of modern adult education, participating in efforts aimed at enabling all categories of adults to assume greater responsibilities in their professional life and society.
Savicevic is a professor of andragogy in the Department of Andragogy, University of Belgrade, Serbia. He served as head of the Department of Education, head of the Institute of Pedagogy and Andragogy and dean of Faculty of Philosophy, University of Belgrade. He was also a visiting professor at Simon Rodriguez University of Venezuela, University of Wisconsin, Madison, and People Normal University, Beijing, China.
Savicevic’s greatest theoretical contributions in the field of lifelong learning are in clarifying the concept of andragogy and education and learning of adults, in setting up strategies for recurrent education, in comparative education of adults, in methodology of research in adult education, in the concept of educational needs of adults, in contemporary concepts in andragogy, in history and evolution of andragogical ideas, and in the philosophical basis of andragogy, as well as in clarifying the process of learning and aging.
He was a project leader for many national and international theoretical and practical projects. He contributed significantly to the development of Serbian concept of lifelong learning and of the idea of recurrent education.
Savicevic was member of the editorial board of International Journal for Adult Education, Convergence, and editorial associate of International Journal for Lifelong Education (London) and editor-in-chief of Andragogical Studies (Belgrade).
He was a member of the Serbian government team for reform of adult education and founded training programs for undergraduate and post-graduate studies of Adult Education at the University of Belgrade; he also assisted similar programs in some other countries.
He received fellowships from the Serbian government, Danish government, Chilean government, Ford Foundation and Fulbright Foundation to study adult education; he also participated in many national and international conferences and projects, and helped in founding some international non-governmental organizations, working with UNESCO, OECD and Council of Europe.
He has written more than 20 books and over 300 articles in national and international journals.
Savicevic advanced adult education in Serbia by shaping specific Serbian concepts of andragogy and illuminating its main dimensions. He introduced andragogy into the family of academic disciplines at Belgrade University and established a system of andragogical disciplines (philosophy of adult education, general andragogy, vocational education and training of adults, instructional design in adult education, methodology of andragogical research, basic education of adults, family education and others). He mentored students and conducted empirical research in the area of adult education and learning.
From 1943-45 he served in the Yugoslavia People’s Liberation Army. He values democratization of social life, development of pluralistic ways of living, social inclusion and security of marginal social groups, and he often speaks up for the rights of marginal groups and against discrimination.