Venys is director of the Center for Democracy and Free Enterprise in the Czech Republic and a German Marshall Campus Fellow. Since 1993, he has established the Legal Resource Center, the English College and the AngloAmerican College in Prague. He also has been the Czech Republic's official manager of tax policy reform, privatization initiatives and financial restructuring of companies. He received a master's degree in political science and international relations from Syracuse University and master's and doctoral degrees in Asian and English studies from Charles University in Prague.

Venys' visit to Bates October 19 - 26 is made possible by a grant from the German Marshall Fund to the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation to increase cooperation between Europeans and Americans. German Marshall Fund Fellows, from the fields of business, journalism and public service, visit small liberal arts colleges for a week of intensive study with faculty and students.

The German Marshall Fund was established in 1972 by a gift from the Federal Republic of Germany to commemorate U.S. postwar assistance under the Marshall Plan.