I do believe that it is very important to share news with the public, especially if it concerns very timely initiatives and higher education and the partnership between the University of Massachusetts Amherst and the Kyiv School of Economics (KSE) in Ukraine is an outstanding example!
Below is the Letter to the Editor that I wrote that was published in The Republican, the major newspaper in western Massachusetts.
The letter, which was accepted for publication by the Executive Editor, Larry Parnass, in a very warm message to me, recognizes the importance of the 1 year partnership, which was established shortly after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russia on February 24, 2022.
Some background information on the partnership can be found in this UMass Amherst press release.
The partnership is now helping to support 15 Virtual Scholars in Ukraine, who are working with faculty at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. I have the honor of serving as the faculty host of 4 scholars. This partnership is reducing brain drain from Ukraine and is enhancing research of all those involved. New research topics have also been identified and papers already published.
We hosted 3 events this academic year. The first was on November 30, 2022, at which we welcomed the 8 scholars working with the Isenberg School faculty. An additional scholar has since joined. You may read the nice article that the Isenberg School has posted on this event. The courage of our colleagues in Ukraine is awe-inspiring as is their dedication to continuing to teach and to conduct research.
On February 22, 2023, the President of KSE, Tymofiy Mylovanov, visited UMass Amherst and met with faculty hosts as well as university leaders during a very dynamic, engaging, and moving visit to our campus.
And, on May 3, 2023, we hosted the Rector of KSE, Tymofii Brik, at UMass Amherst, and I expounded on his visit in my Letter to the Editor! We began the day with a symposium and, in the afternoon, Rector Brik spoke on the Resilience of Ukrainian Universities and Communities!
Below I include collages that we constructed to highlight the special visit in photos.
I am very grateful to the Vice Provost for Global Affairs Kalpen Trivedi and to his team at the International Programs Office at UMass Amherst for the extraordinary support provided to make this unique partnership in wartime so special and synergistic.
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