Thankful for the Kyiv School of Economics in Ukraine

Next week we are celebrating Thanksgiving and this post highlights my gratitude for the Kyiv School of Economics (KSE) in Ukraine, its President - Tymofiy Mylovanov and its Rector - Tymofii Brik, along with its Management Team, faculty, and staff, as well as students.

Yesterday and today, starting at 6AM (and it is a Saturday), I took part in the KSE International Academic Board (IAB) meeting and in its Board of Directors (BOD) meeting.

I have had the honor of serving on both the KSE IAB and BOD for several years now, and, as my readers know, in March 2022, shortly after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russia, I was elected a Co-Chair of the BOD of KSE. The other Co-Chairs are: Olena Bilan, Oleksandr Kravchenko, and Makar Paseniuk. We meet every other Monday and, more often as various board meetings approach or as various crises materialize. I am also serving on several committees associated with KSE.

What KSE has done in wartime is truly extraordinary - opened up multiple new programs, hired new faculty and staff, built a bomb shelter at the university and its staff has engaged in major fundraising campaigns even for humanitarian and disaster relief in Ukraine. Faculty are committed to research, under very challenging circumstances in wartime, and I am extraordinarily grateful for the outstanding partnership established between UMass Amherst and KSE, which has allowed faculty at UMass Amherst to work with 15 Virtual Scholars in Ukraine. 9 of them are associated with faculty at the Isenberg School of Management. And now, we even have 4 exchange students from KSE studying at UMass Amherst and I have written about them. They are exceptional ambassadors for KSE and for Ukraine.

KSE had built an incredible community of scholars, policy makers, administrators, and students as well as alums and board members and supporters. Working with colleagues there, whether  in research or in support of its students, as well as with board members, who include superbly talented, dedicated, creative and impactful individuals from a former ambassador to a Nobel laureate, a rock star, a partner at a top consulting company, leaders of corporations, among others, is very meaningful and rewarding. 

Please support the Kyiv School of Economics - Thank you! Higher education in Ukraine and reducing its brain drain are essential to its recovery and reconstruction.