Milan Raspopović (Serbian Cyrillic: Милан Распоповић) was one of the members of the commission for the establishment of Belgrade Mathematical Gymnasium (abbr. MG) in 1963. He was the first MG physics professor from 1966, and the creator of the MG Physics Curriculum.[1] He was also an MG professor of electronics, and MG principal and director, elected to office in 1970.[2] Raspopović served in parallel as both the principal and the director of Mathematical Gymnasium Belgrade for 32 years, until his retirement in 2002.

Milan Raspopović
Милан Распоповић
3rd director of Mathematical Gymnasium Belgrade
In office
1970–2001
Preceded byDušan Adnađević, dr sci mathematics, Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, University of Belgrade
Succeeded byLjubomir Protić, dr sci mathematics, Faculty of Mathematics, University of Belgrade
Personal details
Born (1936-07-06) 6 July 1936 (age 88)
Martinići, Danilovgrad, Kingdom of Yugoslavia
Alma materUniversity of Belgrade

Education

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Milan Raspopović received his PhD in physics and philosophy from the University of Belgrade.

He successfully defended his PhD thesis titled "The impact of Ludwig Boltzmann’s teachings and understandings on physics and philosophy" at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, University of Belgrade.[3][4][5]

Career

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Principals of Mathematical Gymnasium Belgrade (MGB): mathematician Ljubomir Protić (2002–2004), mathematician Vladimir Dragović (2004–2008), physicist Milan Raspopović (1970–2001). All three were university professors.

Raspopović was the first professor of Physics at the Mathematical Gymnasium of Belgrade – a specialized institution for math and physics, and the creator of the school's extensive physics and overall curriculum.[3][4]

Raspopović taught university level courses at University of Belgrade, University of Niš, University of Kragujevac, and University of Montenegro.[3] During that time he was principal and director at Mathematical Gymnasium Belgrade.[4][3][6][citation needed]

Raspopović and Emilo Danilović, then Serbian Chief Scientific Advisor for physics, created the first MG curriculum in physics.[1]

Textbooks

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Raspopović has authored or co-authored over 30 physics textbooks and assignment collections for elementary and secondary schools. His work primarily focuses on physics textbooks for elementary and high schools, along with assignment collections for technical (engineering) and general science high schools. His textbooks are widely used in gymnasiums, educational programs, and the specialized Matematička Gimnazija for gifted students. Professor Raspopović's books have the highest circulation across Serbia, Montenegro, and the former Yugoslavia.[3][4][6]

Raspopović also co-authored textbooks and collections of solved problems with professors from Mathematical Gymnasium.[3][4]

Awards

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Raspopovic was awarded the Sretenje Order (3rd class) in February 2015, "for special merits for the Republic of Serbia and its citizens in educational and pedagogical activities".[7][8]

International results

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Raspopović led the school as its principal and director for 32 years. During that time, the school achieved unique results worldwide regarding the number of gold, silver, and bronze medals won at the International Science Olympiads:

The school held records for winning more than 400 medals at international competitions and Olympiads, and for graduating scientists with approximately 2000 PhD's among its alumni.

It was not unusual that most, and sometimes all, of the medals at Republics or Federal competitions in Serbia and in Socialist Federative Republic of Yugoslavia, in all categories and for every single grade, were won by students of Mathematical Gymnasium Belgrade. Consequently, Yugoslavian teams for International Olympiads consisted of mostly or only students from Mathematical Gymnasium Belgrade.[9] In 1974, a turbulent year for Yugoslavia when the new Constitution of Yugoslavia was introduced, 7 out of 8 members of Yugoslavia national team for International Mathematical Olympiad – IMO, were from Mathematical Gymnasium Belgrade. It caused political comment since Yugoslavia had six Republics and seven out of eight students for IMO came from Belgrade's Mathematical Gymnasium. The critics were answered when the Yugoslav team (7 out of 8 were MG students) came back from the IMO with five medals: two gold, one silver, and two bronze.[10] Yugoslavia ranked 5th in the world, and USSR and Yugoslavia were the only 2 countries that won two gold medals that year. Mathematical Gymnasium was the absolute winner among all schools in the world, and remained at that position to the present day. In 2010, the Serbian national team for IMO had MG students only. They ranked 10th in the world as a country (Serbia) and took the first place in the world as a school.[11]

Retirement

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Raspopović was professor in Mathematical Gymnasium Belgrade from the school's foundation days in 1966, and was elected Principal and Director in 1970. He served as Principal and Director until his retirement, effective from 2002. He was succeeded as a Principal by Ljubomir Protić of the Faculty of Mathematics, University of Belgrade.

Milan Raspopović remained an active member of the Mathematical Gymnasium Trust and Mathematical Gymnasium Scientific Board.[4][3]

References

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  1. ^ a b History of Physics Department in Mathematical Gymnasium Archived 2 March 2018 at the Wayback Machine (in Serbian)
  2. ^ History of Mathematical Gymnasium Belgrade Archived 3 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine (in Serbian)
  3. ^ a b c d e f g "9788617181466: Vizionarstvom ka vrhu : stvaralacki put Milana O. Raspopovica - AbeBooks - Miloje M. Rakocevic: 861718146X". www.abebooks.com. Retrieved 1 December 2018.
  4. ^ a b c d e f "Matematički Dositej". politika.rs. Retrieved 1 December 2018.
  5. ^ Dick, Auguste; Kerber, Gabriele (1987), Ludwig Boltzmann: Katalog zur Ausstellung an der Zentralbibliothek für Physik in Wien (in German), Zentralbibliothek für Physik, p. 50, 1978 gibt es in Belgrad in Serbokroatisch ein Buch von M. Raspopovic: "Ludwig Boltzmann als Physiker und Philosoph".
  6. ^ a b "Историјат". www.mg.edu.rs. Retrieved 1 December 2018.
  7. ^ Serbia, RTS, Radio televizija Srbije, Radio Television of. "Nikolić uručio odlikovanja". rts.rs. Retrieved 1 December 2018.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  8. ^ "Predsednik Nikolić odlikovao Batu Živojinovića, Milenu Dravić, Boru Todorovića, Noama Čomskog..." www.telegraf.rs. 10 February 2015. Retrieved 1 December 2018.
  9. ^ History of Mathematics Department in Mathematical Gymnasium (in Serbian)
  10. ^ 16th IMO 2010 – 16th International Mathematical Olympiad
  11. ^ 51st IMO 2010 – 51st International Mathematical Olympiad
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