Vladimir Tismaneanu (Romanian pronunciation: [vladi'mir tism@'neanu]; born July 4, 1951) is a Romanian and American political scientist, political analyst, sociologist, and professor at the University of Maryland, College Park. A specialist in political systems and comparative politics, he is director of the University of Maryland's Center for the Study of Post-Communist Societies, having served as chairman of the editorial committee (2004-2008) and editor (1998-2004) of the East European Politics and Societies academic review. Over the years, Tismaneanu has been a contributor to several periodicals, including Studia Politica, Journal of Democracy, Sfera Politicii, Revista 22, Evenimentul Zilei, Idei in Dialog and Cotidianul. He has also worked with the international radio stations Radio Free Europe and Deutsche Welle, and authored programs for the Romanian Television Company.

Outside the realms of history, political science and political analysis, Vladimir Tismaneanu is a noted author of memoirs. This part of his work is centered on the volume Ghilotina de scrum ("The Ashen Guillotine"), also written on the basis of interviews with Mihaies. The book offers an account of his complicating relationship with Leonte Tismaneanu, postulating a difference between the everyday father, who has earned his son's admiration for being marginalized by his political adversaries, and a "political father", whose attitudes and public actions are rejected by Vladimir Tismaneanu.  This approach earned praise from two influential intellectual figures of the Romanian diaspora, critics Monica Lovinescu and Virgil Ierunca, whose letter to the author read: "the distances you take from your own background are of most-rare authenticity and tact. You accomplish a radical break, being at the same time participative, negating things only after you have understood them, being dissociated from both roles of judge and defense counsel." Cioroianu also notes: "He is not the only son of (relatively) well-known communists; but he is one of the few to have reached the level of detachment needed in order to X-ray, in a cold and precise way, a political system. Does this seem easy to you? I do not know how many of us would be capable of introspecting with such lucidity our own parents' utopias, phantasms and disappointments". The historian opposes Tismaneanu's approach to that of Petre Roman, Romania-s first post-1989 Premier, whose attempts at discussing the public image of his father, the communist politico Valter Roman, are argued by Cioroianu to have "failed".  Tismaneanu has contributed the screenplay for Dinu Tanase's documentary film Condamnati la fericire ("Sentenced to Happiness"), released in 1992. With Octavian Serban, he has also authored a series about Communist Romania, which was showcased by the Romanian Television Company. Answer this question using a quote from the following article:

What contributions did he make?
Vladimir Tismaneanu is a noted author of memoirs.