Russia's war on Ukraine has caused immense damage to education, including higher education, with the destruction of universities, and disruption to scholarship and learning. UMass Amherst stepped up, in the month after the full-scale invasion of February 24, 2022, through the establishment of memoranda of understanding with the Kyiv School of Economics in Ukraine. I have been affiliated with this university for over half a decade, and have served both on its International Academic Board and its Board of Directors. In March 2022, I was elected a Co-Chair of its Board of Directors.
As part of this global partnership, 15 Virtual Scholars, all based in Ukraine were partnered with faculty hosts at UMass Amherst. 9 of these were with faculty at the Isenberg School of Management. I had the great pleasure of working with Elena Besedina and Pavlo Martyshev of the Kyiv School of Economics and with Myroslava Kushnir of the Ukrainian Catholic University.
And, I am delighted that the second cohort of Virtual Scholars, numbering 10, has now been selected. The process was very competitive and I wish that we could fund more. All of these faculty, which hail from 5 different universities in Ukraine, have been matched with faculty at the Isenberg School of Management. More information on the call for applications can be found on the Kyiv School of Economics website.
The 10 selected scholars are faculty at the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, the Ukrainian Catholic University, the Kyiv School of Economics, Polissia National University, and the Odesa Law Academy. Their faculty hosts are in the Operations and Information Management Department (yours truly), the Finance Department (Wenting Ma), the Isenberg Management Department (Ina Ganguli, Giuseppe (Joe) Labianca, Bogdan Prokopovych 🇺🇦, and Orlando Richard), and the Accounting Department (Orhan Akisik). The projects are fascinating and include such themes as: human resource management in Ukrainian companies during wartime, Ukrainian scientist research productivity, mobility, and collaborations in wartime, agricultural trade flows between Ukraine and Africa, post-war reconstruction of Ukrainian agriculture and entrepreneurship, and civilian-military defense supply chains. Deepest gratitude to KSE Rector Tymofii Brik, the University of Massachusetts Amherst Provost's Office, the UMass Amherst International Programs Office and Vice Provost for Global Affairs Kalpen Trivedi and Manager of Global Partnerships Eric Wirth, and Dean Anne P. Massey for the great support of this important initiative and partnership. Highlights of some of our activities can be found here with more planned for the next academic year, including another symposium.
I am thrilled that we have even published several articles and that one of my PhD students, Dana Hassani, has been collaborating with Oleg Nivievskyi and Pavlo Martyshev of KSE. Some of our papers and others that may be of interest can be found on the Supernetwork Center site.
This partnership is truly special - it helps in reducing brain drain from Ukraine and provides not only financial support but mentorship. It also is resulting in meaningful research and its dissemination plus friendships.
I am so proud of UMass Amherst and the Kyiv School of Economics for leading the way during these very challenging times.
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