In light of recent events, Her Excellency Vaira Vike-Freiberga has cancelled her visit to Stanford in order to attend the funeral of Pope John Paul II.

Her Excellency was a former professor of psychology specialising in the relationship between thought and language. In 1998, Ms Vike-Freiberga returned to her native Latvia after she received an invitation she couldn't refuse - to head the new Latvian Institute, established to raise the profile of Latvia and the Latvians around the world. In a meteoric rise in her new career as a politician, Ms Vike-Freiberga was elected president within a year. She is now on her second, four-year term as head of state.