Advisory Board

The Vilnius Museum is advised by a board appointed on a three-year basis.

Marija Drėmaitė

Architectural historian and professor at Vilnius University

Marija Drėmaitė obtained an MA in art history from Vytautas Magnus University in 1998, and completed her doctoral studies at Vilnius Academy of Art in 2006. She participated in a doctoral exchange at Helsinki University and the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm. She began to lecture at Vilnius University in 2004. Marija served as general secretary to the Lithuanian National Unesco Commission from 2012 to 2015.
Marija studies 20th-century architecture, cities and industry, and the cultural heritage connected with them.
She worked on the ‘Vilnius City Museum and Research Centre’ feasibility study in 2017 and 2018, together with the director of the Vilnius Museum Dr Rasa Antanavičiūtė and Dr Karolis Kučiauskas.
Marija Drėmaitė is chair of the Vilnius Museum Advisory Board.

Photo by Edgaras Kurauskas

Rūta Kačkutė

Archaeologist, director of the National Museum of Lithuania

Rūta Kačkutė graduated as an archaeologist from Vilnius University in 1993, having participated in an exchange with Aarhus University in 1992, and returned to begin her doctoral studies, which led to a PhD in the humanities. She completed her studies in 2007 at Mykolas Romeris University.
In 2005, Rūta initiated the Book of the Year Awards, which is now an annual event, and in 2016 organised Vilniaus Lapai, the capital’s first literary festival. She contributed to the creation of the Centre for Civil Education, and was awarded the Grand Cross of Commander of the Order for Merits to Lithuania.
From 2009, Rūta Kačkutė served as an advisor on education, science, culture and non-governmental organisations to the Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaitė. She became director of the National Museum of Lithuania in 2019.

Mykolas Katkus

Public relations expert, member of the Vilnius University Institute of International Relations and Political Science Board of Trustees

Mykolas Katkus studied in the Faculty of History of Vilnius University. In 1999, he co-founded the public relations agency Viešųjų ryšių partneriai | Hill & Knowlton.
Mykolas is currently a partner and chairman of the board of Fabula Hill & Knowlton Strategies, and has been a member of the board of the Investor’s Forum association since 2010.

Rimvydas Petrauskas

Historian, professor and rector of Vilnius University

Rimvydas Petrauskas studied history at Vilnius University from 1990 to 1997, and participated in exchanges with the University of Basel, Freie Universitat Berlin, the University of Greifswald, the University of Krakow, and the Herder Institute in Marburg. He obtained his PhD in history in 2001.
He became a professor in 2010, going on to become dean of the Faculty of History of Vilnius University in 2012, and rector of the university in 2020.
Rimvydas’ area of expertise is the political and social history of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.
In 2016, he became a full member of the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences. From 2008 to 2013, he was a member of the Research Council of Lithuania, a board member from 2017 to 2020, and chairman of the board from 2018 to 2020.
Rimvydas Petrauskas has been recognised by the Vilnius University Rector’s Award for his scientific and educational work (2003, 2009), the Patriot Prize (2013), the Knight’s Cross of the Order of Grand Duke Gediminas of Lithuania (2018), the Lithuanian Research Prize (2019), and the Cavalier’s Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland (2019).

Renalda Rutkauskaitė-Preskienienė

Advisor to the mayor of Vilnius

Renalda Rutkauskaitė-Preskienienė studied for a BA in theology at Vytautas Magnus University, followed by graduate studies in law and governance at Mykolas Romeris University. From 1998 to 2006, she served on the team of President Valdas Adamkus in the Economics and Internal Affairs Group.
From 2008 to 2010, she served as an aide to the minister of justice Remigijus Šimašius. She became the head of the Lithuanian Free Market Institute in 2013. Renalda Rutkauskaitė-Preskienienė served as Šimašius’ aide in 2015 when he was elected mayor of Vilnius, and has served as advisor to the mayor since 2020.