Panel at the Isenberg School to Mark the 4th Anniversary of Russia's Full-Scale Invasion of Ukraine

On February 27, 2026, a special panel of faculty from Amherst College and UMass Amherst and exchange students from the Kyiv School of Economics (KSE) , who recently arrived at UMass Amherst, will take place at the Isenberg School of Management.

The panel was organized to mark the 4th anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Below is the poster designed by this year's President of the UMass Amherst INFORMS Student Chapter, Samira Samadi, who is also my PhD student.

The panelists will consist of faculty: Professors Nataliia Bychkova and Myroslav Kryven of Amherst College and my colleague at the Isenberg School - Professor Bogdan Prokopovych as well as the KSE exchange students: Alisa Mikjieieva, Olesia Rozhanska, and Yuliia Zaitseva.

UMass Amherst signed a series of MOUs with KSE, shortly after the full-scale invasion on February 24, 2022, and, to-date, we have had two cohorts of Virtual Scholars in Ukraine working with faculty at UMass Amherst. The 2023-2024 cohort had 25 Virtual Scholars at various universities in Ukraine and the 2024-2025 consisted of 10 Virtual Scholars, all of whom were "matched" with faculty at the Isenberg School of Management.

And, since 2023, UMass Amherst has welcomed multiple exchange students from KSE. The students on the panel are now taking classes at UMass Amherst. One is majoring in psychology and two in business economics.

The panel, I am sure, will be very timely and informative.

A Fabulous UMass Amherst INFORMS Party with Even Exchange Students from the Kyiv School of Economics (KSE) in Ukraine

Yesterday, we had our UMass Amherst INFORMS party and, despite the very cold weather and that it is now the final exam period, it was fabulous!

As is our tradition, we brought hot Ukrainian food, including two types of varenyky (pierogies) and kovbasa (kielbasy),  plus many desserts. Thanks to the faculty that made it: Professor Senay Solak, the Chair of my department,  Professor Iqbal Ali, the former Cbair of my department, and Professor Hari Balasubramanian of the Riccio College of Engineering. Thanks to all the Chapter Officers who could attend: Josh Gladstone, Dana Hassani, Semih Boz, and Sindhoora Prakash. A special shoutout to the Chapter President Samira Samadi for her excellent work on the logistics for this lovely event marking the 2025 end of the semester and for bringing delicious Middle Eastern pastries. Catering was provided by award-winning UMass Dining.

Below is a collage of photos.

It was extra special to have 4 exchange students: Vaktoriia Baliuk, Oleksandra Horusieva, Karyna Lutsenko, and  Nataliia Pavelko from the Kyiv School of Economics (KSE), who have been studying at UMass Amherst, join us, as well as, Professor Nataliia Bychkova from Amherst College, who brought confections from Ukraine to share. The students, after completing their final exams, will be returning to Ukraine. We hope to welcome a new cohort for Spring 2026. This exchange program was made possible through a global partnership established between UMass Amherst and KSE shortly after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russia on February 24, 2022.

I am so grateful for this wonderful community and am honored to have served as the Faculty Advisor to the UMass Amherst INFORMS Student Chapter since its inception in 2004.

Wishing everyone warmth, peace, pleasant adventures, and a lovely Holiday Season. Thank you for the support.

Outstanding Presentation by Dr. Oleh Nivievskyi on Rebuilding Crossroads of Ukraine

Yesterday we had the honor and great pleasure of hearing Dr. Oleh Nivievskyi present at the Isenberg School of Management in the UMass Amherst INFORMS Speaker Series! Dr. Nivievskyi's seminar title was, "Rebuilding Crossroads of Ukraine: Bridging the Gap Between Damage, Recovery, and European Aspirations." Dr. Nivievskyi is a Full Professor at the Kyiv School of Economics (KSE) and a Siemens Research Fellow at the Freie University of Berlin. He is  a co-founder of the KSE Agro-Food Center.

His presentation was based on a paper, now in production in the Ukrainian Analytics Digest, which is edited by Eduard Klein, and which is co-authored with Dmytro Goriunov of KSE and me. We expect the paper to be published in an issue later this month.

Professor Nivievskyi had a few travel kerfuffles but made it to Northampton on Thursday via Amtrak from DC after flying from Europe. We picked him up at the train station and then had a lovely dinner at the Whately Inn al fresco.

He overnighted at the UMass Amherst Hotel and had a quick tour and meetings with students in the morning, followed by his outstanding presentation, and then lunch at The Commonwealth Restaurant.

It was wonderful to have a fabulous audience that included several exchange students from KSE plus our OIM Department Chair Professor Solak. Thanks to everyone for the great questions and discussions! It was thrilling to have two faculty from Amherst College, who are Ukrainian, join us for lunch.

The UMass Meet and Greet service provided a comfortable ride to the Springfield Union Station for his journey to NYC for some KSE business.

Along with my Isenberg PhD student, Dana Hassani, we had published several papers with Nivievskyi in such journals as Transportation Science, the European Journal of Operational Research, and the Journal of Global Optimization,  and a paper in the recent Dynamics of Disasters edited volume; see my recent post: https://annanagurney.blogspot.com/2025/07/working-with-colleagues-in-ukraine-is.html. It was very special that Nivievskyi could meet my PhD students in person, including co-author Dana.

We organized this event on short notice but one has to take advantage of opportunities. Having face to face engagements between scholars and students is very enriching education-wise and also personally!

Many thanks to the UMass Amherst Office of Global Affairs for the support of the partnership with KSE!

Working with Colleagues in Ukraine Is Inspiring

Since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, I have been deeply involved in supporting higher education there. I had already been quite active, due to my affiliation with the Kyiv School of Economics (KSE) as both a member of its Board of Directors (BOD) and its International Academic Board over several years, but, in March, 2022, my connections intensified since I was elected one of the four Co-Chairs of the BOD of KSE https://kse.ua/community/stories/board-of-directors/.  Shortly thereafter, my university - UMass Amherst - established a global partnership with KSE. The partnership included both a student exchange student program (very successful) as well as a Virtual Scholar in Residence Program to reduce brain drain from Ukraine. We have now had two sets of cohorts of Virtual Scholars and I have enjoyed working with several of the scholars.

My colleagues in Ukraine inspire me and I believe that the research that we have done together is strengthened through our collaborations.

I am honored and delighted that Professor Myroslava Kushnir from the Ukrainian Catholic University (UCU) in Lviv and I have had our latest paper accepted for presentation at the Information Technology in Disaster Risk Reduction Conference at Kyoto University https://itdrr.org/conference/itdrr2025/. Our paper, "Social Network Analysis of Civilian Support Networks for the Ukrainian Military," emphasizes that Russia’s war on Ukraine is not only a geopolitical conflict but also a humanitarian, ecological, social and economic disaster. Our study applies Social Network Analysis (SNA) to explore the interaction structure between civil society organizations (CSOs) and military units in Ukraine during the ongoing full-scale war. Dr. Kushnir has been a Virtual Scholar in both cohorts. Our first joint paper, "Civilian-Military Integration in Ukrainian Defense Supply Chain," co-authored with Renata Konrad of Worcester Polytechnic Institute, was published in the Proceedings of the International ISCRAM Conference: https://ojs.iscram.org/index.php/Proceedings/article/view/49

And just a few days ago, at the great EURO Conference in Leeds, UK, I presented a paper co-authored with my Isenberg School of Management PhD student, Ismael Pour, and Professor Borys Kormych of the Odesa Law Academy. The paper, "Integrated Crop and Cargo War Risk Insurance: Application to Ukraine," was recently published in the International Transactions in Operational Research (ITOR): https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/itor.70038 Professor Kormych had also been a Virtual Scholar in the two cohorts. 

And, with Virtual Scholar Pavlo Martyshev and Professor Oleg Nivievskyi of KSE, we have published 4 papers, along with my Isenberg School of Management PhD student Dana Hassani. I am very proud of this work. The papers that have appeared in journals are: 

"A Multiperiod Multicommodity Capacitated International Agricultural Trade Network Equilibrium Model with Applications to Ukraine in Wartime," Dana Hassani, Anna Nagurney, Oleg Nivievskyi, and Pavlo Martyshev, Transportation Science 59(1): (2025), pp 143-164,

"Multicommodity International Agricultural Trade Network Equilibrium: Competition for Limited Production and Transportation Capacity Under Disaster Scenarios with Implications for Food Security,"Anna Nagurney, Dana Hassani, Oleg Nivievskyi, and Pavlo Martyshev, European Journal of Operational Research 314(1): (2024), pp 1127-1142,

"Exchange Rates and Multicommodity International Trade: Insights from Spatial Price Equilibrium Modeling with Policy Instruments via Variational Inequalities," Anna Nagurney, Dana Hassani, Oleg Nivievskyi, and Pavlo Martyshev, Journal of Global Optimization 87: (2023), pp 1-30.

Plus, we have the following paper: "Quantification of International Trade Network Performance Under Disruptions to Supply, Transportation, and Demand Capacity, and Exchange Rates in Disasters,"Anna Nagurney, Dana Hassani, Oleg Nivievskyi, and Pavlo Martyshev, published in Dynamics of Disasters - From Natural Phenomena to Human Activity, I.S. Kotsireas, A. Nagurney, P.M. Pardalos, S. Pickl, C. Vogiatzis, Editors, Springer Nature Switzerland AG (2024), pp 151-179.

Dana Hassani has received 4 research awards (2 from the OIM Department and 2 from the Isenberg School) for his publications. These are significant recognitions.

I have written additional article with Professor Nivievskyi and am extremely proud of the paper, "Ukraine - Addressing the Domestic Crisis and the Effects of the War on Global Food Systems," which was published by the Pontifical Academy of Sciences: https://www.pas.va/en/publications/scripta-varia/sv154pas/nivievskyi.html

I have also worked with Professor Elena Besedina of KSE. She was a Virtual Scholar in the first cohort. The paper that we co-authored is: "A Multicommodity Spatial Price Equilibrium Model with Exchange Rates and Non-Tariff Measures for Agri-Food International Trade," Anna Nagurney and Elena Besedina, Operations Research Forum 4: (2023), 84.

My colleagues and collaborators in Ukraine have dealt with drones and missiles and losses of family members and friends and much too much time in shelters. They continue to teach and to conduct research under very challenging conditions. What they do to support their students and knowledge discovery in wartime is heroic. I thank them from the bottom of my heart and look forward to peace and prosperity for Ukraine and its freedom-loving citizenry.

Visit of Dr. Kyrychenko from the Kyiv School of Economics (KSE) to UMass Amherst

This past week, we were delighted to have Dr. Kostyantyn Kyrychenko, the Vice Rector for International Cooperation at the Kyiv School of Economics (KSE), come to UMass Amherst. Those of you who have been reading my blog are aware of the global partnership between these two universities established shortly after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022. 

It was a pleasure to have Dr. Kyrychenko join a group of us for lunch. At the delicious lunch at The Commonwealth Restaurant sponsored by the UMass Amherst Office of Global Affairs (OGA) even the one and only Associate Vice Chancellor Ken Toong stopped by! When I told our distinguished visitor from Ukraine that UMass Amherst had been voted as having the best college food 7 years in a row - he corrected me (thank you) - UMass Amherst has received this honor 8 times! Special thanks to Kimberly Stender and Claire Novotny of the Office of Global Affairs for the lovely time and to my great Isenberg School of Management, UMass Amherst colleagues, Professors Bogdan Prokopovych 🇺🇦 and Ina Ganguli, who also has an appointment in our Economics Department and who graciously shared the photo with Ken Toong in the collage below. It was extra special to also have exchange students from KSE join us.

I was touched by a lovely gift set that Dr. Kyrychenko presented me from Sumy, which is the city in eastern Ukraine that he is from and also where one of our exchange students is from. Kimberly Stender presented him with some gifts from the Office of Global Affairs and he gave her some KSE branded gifts. The conversations were wonderful and I am sure that they will continue. The exchange student program has brought 7 different students from KSE to UMass Amherst in the past two years and they have thrived on our beautiful campus. The students are fabulous ambassadors for Ukraine and their courage and work ethic inspire me.

We thank Dr. Kyrychenko for visiting us. The journey from Ukraine is quite long and I know that tomorrow he will be back for KSE Open Days!

Congratulations to Dana Hassani on Receipt of the 2025 Outstanding Doctoral Student Researcher Award at the Isenberg School!

On May 9, the Isenberg School of Management held its All School Meeting to wrap up the academic year. At the meeting, various awards were given out to faculty, staff, and doctoral students.

My Isenberg PhD student in Operations Management Dana Hassani, who was announced as the recipient of the 2025 Outstanding Doctoral Student Researcher Award, was, at that time, was en route to the POM Society Conference in Atlanta, so could not attend. I had blogged about this conference in previous posts.

So, this past Thursday, after the Isenberg PhD robing ceremony, the Director of our PhD Program, Dr. George Milne, presented Dana with the award plaque in our Business Innovation Hub.

Dana arrived at UMass Amherst in January 2022, after a delay in obtaining his visa. He has published 3 journal articles, and one book chapter, which is quite remarkable. And he has also been teaching this past academic year a required course, "Business Data Analysis," for our business undergraduates each semester. Dana is the lead author of the paper, "A Multiperiod, Multicommodity, Capacitated International Agricultural Trade Network Equilibrium Model with Applications to Ukraine in Wartime," co-authored with me, and Kyiv School of Economics (KSE) colleagues: Oleg Nivievskyi and Pavlo Martyshev, which appears in in the INFORMS journal Transportation Science,  vol. 59, no. 1, January-February 2025, pp. 143–164. He is also the co-author (second author) with the same co-authors as above of the paper, "Multicommodity International Agricultural Trade Network Equilibrium: Competition for Limited Production and Transportation Capacity Under Disaster Scenarios with Implications for Food Security," published in the European Journal of Operational Research, vol. 314, no. 1, 2024,  pp. 1127-1142. He is also a co-author, with the same authors as above of the paper, "Exchange Rates and Multicommodity International Trade: Insights from Spatial Price Equilibrium Modeling with Policy Instruments via Variational Inequalities," published in the Journal of Global Optimization, vol.  87, 2023, pp. 1-30.

Dana's book chapter, co-authored with the same team as his journal articles, "Quantification of International Trade Network Performance Under Disruptions to Supply, Transportation, and Demand Capacity, and Exchange Rates in Disasters," was published in Dynamics of Disasters- From Natural Phenomena to Human Activity, I.S. Kotsireas, A. Nagurney, P.M. Pardalos, S. Pickl, C. Vogiatzis, Editors, Springer Nature Switzerland AG, 2024, pp. 151-179.

It is important to emphasize that there are 9 tracks in the Isenberg PhD Program so receiving this award is quite the achievement. And, Dana also got this award last year. He successfully defended his dissertation proposal a few months ago. I look forward to his successful PhD defense in the coming academic year. He has done excellent research focusing on agricultural supply chains and international trade under disruptions, including in Ukraine during wartime. It has been an honor to work with him and with colleagues at the Kyiv School of Economics. 

We Celebrated the Outstanding Exchange Students from the Kyiv School of Economics (KSE)

This is the second full academic year that exchange students from the Kyiv School of Economics (KSE) in Ukraine have been studying at UMass Amherst. The exchange program, during wartime Ukraine, was made possible because of a partnership established between KSE and UMass Amherst, under the leadership of the Vice Chancellor for Global Affairs Dr. Kalpen Trivedi.

Two of the KSE exchange students have been with us for two academic years and are now returning back to Ukraine. Two are staying on for another year and we expect additional ones to arrive in the Fall.

I invited the students for a special dinner in order to celebrate their accomplishments. The dinner was at The Inn at Boltwood in downtown Amherst.  The warm conversations covered much territory - the students' classes and great professors, friends made from Massachusetts and from around the globe, the award-winning UMassAmherst food, college sports (notably, UMass hockey), life in beautiful Amherst, and the differences between learning in the US and in Ukraine. Traveling thousands of miles from their homes and their families, the students: Asta Motrenko, Marharyta Nechytailo, Oleksandra Horusieva, and Karyna Lutsenko have achieved so much and have left a big imprint on all those who have had the pleasure of interacting with them. Thanks to Lorraine Martinelle of Marcomm at the Isenberg School for the lovely, informative article on the students: https://www.isenberg.umass.edu/news/three-years-later-isenberg-reflects-umass-amherst-partnership-ukrainian-institution

They students have spoken on university panels (thanks to UMass Amherst Student Chapter of INFORMS), been on Talk the Talk radio show, made the Dean's List each semester, took part (Marharyta as an analyst) in the amazing and very impactful Isenberg Undergraduate Consulting Group (IUCG) and even placed second on a team in a national Capital One competition. Songs have been created, produced, and performed in Amherst (Asta). Since two students are returning to Kyiv, with Ukraine still enduring war, now in its 4th year,  this made the evening also bittersweet. 

I am sure that the KSE exchange students will play an important role, through their education, experiences and friendships made, in the recovery and rebuilding of Ukraine. A big thanks to their professors, including those at the Isenberg School of Management, UMass Amherst, who have provided such outstanding courses and have mentored them. And, thanks to the top administrators: Provost Fouad Abd-El-Khalick, Vice Provost for Global Affairs Kalpen Trivedi, and Isenberg Dean Anne P. Massey for the support in the global partnership between UMass Amherst and KSE. 

On Serving on Boards, Including Board of Directors

As an academic, one is engaged in research, teaching, and service and, also, public outreach, if that is your interest and forte. Service can take many forms from internal department and university service to external service, including professional service of different kinds.

This post is on service on boards.

For example, just two days ago, I had a meeting with fellow Co-Chairs of the Board of Directors of the Kyiv School of Economics (KSE): Olena Bilan, Oleksandr Kravchenko, and Makar Paseniuk, and the KSE President Tymofiy Mylovanov.

We have regular meetings throughout the year and the previous meeting I attended virtually while in Brno Czechia, from my hotel room, since I was conferencing in Europe over three weeks.

The full list of the Board of Directors of KSE is here.

It is an outstanding group of thought leaders, public intellectuals, academics, business leaders, former ambassadors, a Nobel prize winner, and even a Ukrainian rockstar. 

The newest members of the KSE Board of Directors are:

Michael A. McFaul — Director of the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies (FSI), Former US National Security Advisor, U.S. Ambassador to Russia (2012-2014), Co-Chair of the International Working Group on Sanctions against Russia,

Lola Woetzel — Senior partner of McKinsey & Company, Director of the McKinsey Global Institute,

William B. Taylor — Vice president, Europe and Russia, at the U.S. Institute of Peace, 6th US Ambassador to Ukraine (2006–2009), US Chargé d’Affaires to Ukraine in 2019.

Since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, our input has been more needed than ever and supporting this higher education institution in Ukraine is incredibly humbling and inspiring.

In addition, I have been serving on the International Academic Board (IAB) of KSE for over half a decade. Its Chair is the Nobel laureate Roger Myerson. The full list is here. It is thrilling to have as the KSE IAB's newest members: Serhii Plokhii, the Director of the Harvard University Research Institute, and Maryna Viazovska, the Fields Medalist.

It has been amazing as well as thrilling to see KSE triple its student enrollment since Russia's full-scale invasion and also to expand its programs. It also has many new partnerships and I am especially excited about the partnership between UMass Amherst and KSE, which has funded two cohorts of Virtual Scholars based in Ukraine who have been matched with faculty at UMass Amherst, the latest 10 with faculty at the Isenberg School of Management. Plus, in the Fall we will have another set of exchange students from KSE studying at UMass Amherst. Some info here.

These are not the only boards that I am now serving on.

I am chairing the INFORMS Magazine Editorial Advisory Board (MEAB) and am working with Kara Tucker of INFORMS and other wonderful board members. Our meeting last week was incredibly engaging intellectually and personally.

Also, and this is expected of many of us academics, I serve on multiple journal editorial boards and also book series. 

In addition, I enjoy interacting with board members such as the Advisory Board of my Operations and Information Management Department.

I have not yet served on a corporate board but would be interested in doing so. Of course, there are also opportunities in serving on other nonprofit boards, including those outside of academia, such as, for example, on a hospital board or on an NGO one.

Working with other board members can be incredibly exciting and rewarding and one can help institutions to grow and to be more effective.

Thanks to all who provide such valuable service!

The Great UMass Amherst - Kyiv School of Economics Partnership Continues with the Second Cohort of Virtual Scholars in Ukraine

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.

Civilian-Military Integration of Ukrainian Defense Supply Chain - A Paper by Three Females

The ISCRAM conference, which took place recently in Munster, Germany, is now over. The conference focused on information systems for crisis response and management and attracted speakers from many countries.

I was thrilled that Professor Myroslava Kushnir of the Ukrainian Catholic University (UCU) in Lviv, Ukraine was able to present our paper, "Civilian-Military Integration of Ukrainian Defense Supply Chain" at the recent ISCRAM conference that took place in Munster, Germany.  The paper was also co-authored by Professor Renata Konrad of the Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI). For all three of us, Ukrainian is our first language.

The paper was published in the refereed conference Proceedings and is open access. It can be downloaded here.

I started working with Myroslava, through the outstanding UMass Amherst - Kyiv School of Economics (KSE) partnership, in which the 1st round of Virtual Scholars had 15 scholars in Ukraine matched up with faculty hosts at UMass Amherst. 9 of the 15 were matched with faculty at the Isenberg School of Management at UMass Amherst. I had the pleasure of working with Myroslava and also with Elena Besedina of KSE and Pavlo Martyshev of KSE as well as Oleg Nivievskyi of KSE. I published papers with all of them.

Nathan Greenfield wrote this wonderful article in World University News about the meaning of this partnership and you can see therein quotes from Kushnir, Besedina, and Martyshev.

Myroslava told me that she was the only Ukrainian that presented at the ISCRAM Conference.

Our research continues and we expect to have an announcement of the 2nd round of Virtual Scholars before too long.

Working with faculty and researchers in Ukraine has been incredibly humbling and inspirational.

My Isenberg School of Management PhD Student Dana Hassani Receives the Outstanding Doctoral Student Research Award

As the 2023-2024 academic year was growing to a close, there were many celebratory events including my department's award ceremony that  I had blogged about.

And, at the final All School Meeting of the Isenberg School on May 9, 2024, there were faculty and PhD students recognized for research and teaching as well as staff for their accomplishments.

I was thrilled to hear that my Isenberg School PhD student, Dana Hassani, who has completed almost two and a half years in our doctoral program in Operations Management, was the sole recipient of the 2024 Isenberg School Outstanding Doctoral Research Award! I had nominated Dana for this award.

Below is a collage of photos taken after the announcement and prior to the Senior Barbecue that followed.

Dana has already had two journal articles published, one in the European Journal of Operational Research, and the other one in the Journal of Global Optimization.

Both of these papers, Dana co-authored with me and with colleagues at the Kyiv School of Economics (KSE) in Ukraine, Professor Oleg Nivievskyi and Dr. Pavlo Martyshev. Preprints of these and other papers of ours can be found on the Supernetwork Center website: https://supernet.isenberg.umass.edu/dart.html These papers are reflective of a wonderful collaboration began through the UMass Amherst - KSE partnership, which was established after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russia on February 24, 2022. Pavlo was one of 15 Virtual Scholars in our first round and was placed with me as a Faculty Host.

In addition, we, recently, heard that another joint paper of ours, "Quantification of International Trade Network Performance Under Disruptions to Supply, Transportation, and Demand Capacity, and Exchange Rates in Disasters," has been accepted for publication in: Dynamics of Disasters- From Natural Phenomena to Human Activity, I.S. Kotsireas, A. Nagurney, P.M. Pardalos, S. Pickl, C. Vogiatzis, Editors, Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

The achievement of Dana's receipt of this award is quite impressive since there are 7 departments in the Isenberg School of Management.

The research on international agricultural trade network equilibrium problems continues, with various policy interventions, analysis of disruptions due to the war, as well as impacts on food security. 

Our KSE colleagues inspire us as do all Ukrainians fighting for their freedom and that of democracies globally.

Reflection on the 2nd Anniversary of Russia's Full Scale Invasion of Ukraine

Hard to believe that it has been two years since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, a sovereign nation in Europe, on February 24, 2022.

Ukraine and Ukrainians in Russia's illegal, unprovoked war have endured an immense toll in terms of suffering, lives lost, injuries sustained, families separated, plus damages to critical infrastructure, homes, educational institutions, healthcare facilities, cultural institutions, agricultural facilities and land, as well as to nature and the environment. The Ukrainian economy has suffered immensely, exacerbating global food insecurity since Ukraine is known as a breadbasket with its rich chernozem (black soil) and is a big producer of wheat, corn, and sunflower seeds.

Ukrainians everywhere have been affected by this horrific war, which  has also resulted in millions of displaced people. All those on our planet who value freedom, safety, civility, and, of course, democracy continue to be amazed by the courage, tenacity and resilience of Ukrainians and their love for their country.

Incredibly, we are also marking the almost 2 year anniversary of the historic partnership between the University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass) and the Kyiv School of Economics (KSE). In such historic, very challenging times, one does what one can and UMass Amherst has been visionary in establishing this partnership, so soon after the full-scale invasion. It endures and is flourishing.

In the past year, 15 Virtual Scholars in Ukraine, through this partnership, have worked with Faculty Hosts at UMass Amherst (9 of them based in the Isenberg School of Management). Our collaborations across the miles have synergized research, have built friendships, and have resulted in significant research publications plus conference presentations. 

Just last week, we hosted the second visit of the President of KSE, Dr. Tymofiy Mylovanov, who gave an outstanding presentation on leading his university in wartime. And last spring, we organized a symposium featuring the Virtual Scholars and their Faculty Hosts with the Rector of KSE, Dr. Tymofii Brik, also in attendance. Plus, he delivered a seminar.

What has been truly remarkable this year, is that 4 exchange students from KSE joined us at UMass Amherst. It has been a delight to get to know them and I am deeply grateful to Isenberg School Dean Anne P. Massey for even hosting a lunch in their honor.

And the exchange students spoke on a panel at the Isenberg School about their experiences.

Listen to their interview and be inspired.

Thanks to all who have been instrumental in the success of our partnership from the top administrators to Faculty Hosts and also to the students of the UMass Amherst INFORMS Student Chapter, who have provided their energy and thoughtfulness in helping us to organize many events. 

Last year, I wrote a reflection on the 1 year anniversary.

There has been media coverage of many of our activities and events and we are grateful for the coverage and for getting the messages out. For some examples, please see various postings on the Supernetwork Center website.

A collection of relevant videos can be accessed here.

Some of our research publications with Ukrainian colleagues can be found here.

It has been extremely meaningful for me to have served as a Co-Chair of the Board of Directors of KSE for almost 2 years now as well as being a member of its Board of Directors and International Academic Board with truly amazing colleagues for over half a decade now.

Sustaining institutions of higher education in Ukraine is of the utmost importance and I am so proud of the work that UMass Amherst is doing in this regard. Special thanks go out to my amazing Dean Anne P. Massey and to the Director of our International Programs Office and Vice Provost for Global Affairs Dr. Kalpen Trivedi for their terrific leadership as well as to the support provide by Provost Dr. Mike Malone.

It is high time that all democratic nations give Ukraine everything that it needs in order for it to be able to defeat the evil invaders and occupiers. The future of our planet and our way of life depend on it.

Higher Ed Leadership In Ukraine in Wartime - KSE President Tymofiy Mylovanov

This past Monday, we had the honor and pleasure of hosting Dr. Tymofiy Mylovanov, the President of the Kyiv School of Economics in Ukraine, at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. This was his second visit to UMass Amherst - his first was on February 22, 2023. 

His visit was very timely, as was his lecture,  since we are approaching the second anniversary of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russia.

Mylovanov had sent me a message just a few days before his arrival saying that he would like to visit and speak and, despite multiple logistical hurdles and scheduling issues, we made it work.

Leading a university is extremely challenging and leading one in wartime, with success, is extraordinary.

I have had the great honor of serving as a Co-Chair of the KSE of Board of Directors, having been elected shortly after the full-scale invasion. But my relationship with KSE has been over half a decade, since I also serve on its International Academic Board and its Board of Directors. Also, back in March 2022, UMass Amherst and KSE established a partnership, which has further synergized our connections, and is now supporting both exchange students from KSE as well as Virtual Scholars in Ukraine (we will be starting the second round soon) to reduce brain drain.

The leadership exhibited by KSE President Mylovanov is one characterized by: immense care for the safety of his students, faculty and staff; agility in creating new degree programs at KSE; talent in connecting with thought leaders and disseminating the needs and accomplishments of KSE to donors, stakeholders, and the world at large; expanding KSE to include a business school, and supporting the outstanding KSE Institute, which produces many white papers and studies of relevance in wartime that are regularly cited by international media,  plus growing the KSE Charitable Foundation to assist in the financing of humanitarian endeavors in Ukraine. Such important activities require steadfastness, great intelligence, resilience, and ability to get data and information quickly. It also requires innovation and associated thinking under immense pressures and even danger.

What also truly inspires me is his understanding of the importance of not only face to face education but also visiting supporters and donors and advocating for KSE and Ukraine in person.

Below is a photo of Dr. Mylovanov presenting at the Isenberg School of Management at UMass Amherst this past Monday.

UMass Amherst issued this nice press release announcing his talk. The UMass Amherst INFORMS Student Chapter, in turn, prepared this nice poster, and the students, along with the International Programs Office at UMass and the Isenberg School helped with the logistics.

During his visit, Dr. Mylovanov met with top university administrators, faculty, and students, and also had a chance to chat with guests. At the meeting with the Provost, the VCRE, and the Director of our International Programs Office, Dr. Mylovanov made a statement that I found vey moving and, also, informative. He said that we all will die, so we need to identify what will be our legacy. His, he believes, is building up the Kyiv School of Economics and that is "his mile." He also, when asked, responded to the challenges of being a public persona. He is, above his educational leadership role, also a frequent guest on CNN, BBC and other media and news platforms. He said that he plays a public role because he believes that there are positives and, I believe, his sharing of information and commentary is beneficial not only to KSE but also to those interested in Ukraine around the globe.

I was thrilled to have him emphasize the importance of the partnership between UMass Amherst and KSE and its highly original model of supporting both students, as through the exchange program, and also research since Virtual Scholars in Ukraine are partnered with Faculty Hosts at UMass Amherst. Last year, for example, there were 9 Virtual Scholars in Ukraine working with faculty at the Isenberg School, and 15 Scholars total placed with UMass faculty. We have organized  joint symposia, and have published terrific journal articles and have also had multiple conference presentations based on the collaborations across the miles. The friendships that have been made support the researchers in Ukraine and are enriching to those of us who have the honor of working with them. Some additional information on the partnership can be found here.

Below is a photo of KSE President Mylovanov with two of our KSE exchange students after the lunch on Monday.

The attendance at his presentation at the Isenberg School was excellent, despite a short notice, and also a last minute room change.

The UMass Amherst INFORMS Student Chapter conducted an interview with Dr. Mylovanov and a gift was presented to him. We will let you know when the interview is posted on the Chapter's youtube channel.

It was wonderful to have discussions with him over lunch and dinner and I am very grateful to all the administrators who made time in their very busy schedules to meet with us.

We have now posted a video recording of Dr. Mylovanov's presentation and it, along with his slide deck, can be found and viewed by clicking here.

There will be additional media coverage, but many thanks to Daniella Pikman for her article on Dr. Mylovanov's presentation published already in the Daily Collegian.

Below is a collage of photos capturing the highlights of Mylovanov's visit. Thanks to all who took part. And, with a pending snowstorm, we managed to find him a hotel next to Bradley Airport and he caught a 6AM flight to DC on Tuesday morning (his 10AM flight had been cancelled) and made his meetings there in time. Quite a few neighboring universities were closed on Tuesday but not UMass Amherst.

Thanks to KSE President Tymofiy Mylovanov for the extraordinary leadership of KSE in Ukraine! Information on KSE is here.

Congratulations and Kudos - Virtual Center for Supernetworks in 2023

As the Founding Director of the Virtual Center for Supernetworks, which was established at the Isenberg School in 2001 (shortly before 9/11), I find it important, as another year draws to a close, to reflect upon the achievements of the Center and its Associates during these challenging times.

2023 was a remarkable year, in which we celebrated 15 Virtual Scholars in Ukraine, part of the UMass Amherst - Kyiv School of Economics (KSE) partnership. In the spring 2023, we had the honor and pleasure of helping to host the visit of the President of KSE, Dr. Tymofiy Mylovanov in February and the visit of the Rector of KSE, Dr. Tymofii Brik, in May, at which we also took part in a symposium featuring faculty hosts at UMass Amherst and the Virtual Scholars in Ukraine. Many thanks to the International Programs Office at UMass Amherst, including Vice Provost for Global Affairs Dr. Kalpen Trivedi, and to the Isenberg School and the Provost's Office for the outstanding support of this very important program that helps to reduce brain drain from Ukraine.

For the EJOR paper, "Multicommodity International Agricultural Trade Network Equilibrium: Competition for Limited Production and Transportation Capacity Under Disaster Scenarios with Implications for Food Security," Dana received the inaugural prize from my OIM department, for this A level publication with a monetary award of $750. In May, 2023, Center Associates Professors Deniz Besik and Pritha Dutta and I published the paper, "An Integrated Multitiered Supply Chain Network Model of Competing Agricultural Firms and Processing Firms: The Case of Fresh Produce and Quality," in EJOR.

And, with Professor Elena Besedina of KSE, we published a paper in Operations Research Forum. Much of our research with colleagues in Ukraine focuses on agricultural supply chains and impacts of Russia's war on them with the importance of alternative routes for exports quantified as well as the use of various policies for international trade enhancement.

We welcomed a new Center Associate, Dr. Gabriela Colajanni, with whom, and with Center Associates Professor Patrizia Daniele and Professor Ladimer S. Nagurney, we have been actively publishing on UAVs (drones).

Our research papers can be found on the Supernetwork Center website.

In addition, as part of the partnership, UMass Amherst welcomed 4 female undergraduate students from KSE! We hosted a special panel with them through the auspices of the UMass Amherst INFORMS Student Chapter and there is now even a video of an additional interview posted on the chapter's youtube channel. It has been an extraordinary experience interacting with these remarkable ambassadors for Ukraine as they enjoy their experiences at UMass Amherst very much. Our great Isenberg School Dean Anne P. Massey even hosted a lunch in their honor.

And, this past summer, I had the honor of co-organizing another Dynamics of Disasters (DOD) conference, which took place in Piraeus, Greece, and attracted conferees from many different countries. We are now in the process of editing the Proceedings volume. 

Speaking of books, I was thrilled that my Labor and Supply Chain Networks was published by Springer in 2023. It's wonderful to see al the libraries that now carry it.

Shortly after the DOD conference, and with a lovely meeting with Center Associate Professor Patrizia Daniele and her family in Madrid, I headed to the IFORS conference in Santiago, at which I delivered a keynote talk. It was wonderful to see colleagues from around the globe at this conference.

INFORMS in Phoenix served as a reunion for several of us, and it was wonderful to see Center Associates Professors Deniz Besik, Dmytro Matsypura, and Shivani Shukla there with Professor Zugang Liu also taking part. At this conference the UMass Amherst INFORMS Student Chapter was recognized with the Magna Cum Laude Award. I have had the honor of serving as the chapter's Faculty Advisor since 2004, whehn the chapter was established.

And big congratulations are in order to Center Associates Shivani Shukla and Dong "Michelle" Li, both of whom were recognized with promotion and tenure this year at their respective institutions of the University of San Francisco and Babson College.

Congratulations also to Center Associate Sara Saberi of  WPI, who was appointed the Norton Assistant Professor in 2023.

We continue to be very engaged with the media - some of our writings can be found here and interviews here.

For photos of various Center activities please see https://supernet.isenberg.umass.edu/cfoto/centerphotos.html

Thank you for the support. Let's work together to make 2024 a better year than 2023 with all the pain and suffering now on our planet.

News Coverage on Our Latest Research

Real world events inform the research of my group at the Supernetwork Center at the Isenberg School of Management, that I founded in 2001 and continue to direct. 

Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have continued to model and solve a spectrum of supply chain network problems that have been affected by various disruptions, which now, sadly, for almost 2 years, have also included major disruptions to agricultural trade caused by Russia's full-scale war on Ukraine. Our research, documented in journal articles and book chapters, has continued to quantify the impacts of labor shortages and security issues and blockages associated with transportation, production capacity limitations, along with the repercussions of Russia pulling out of the Black Sea Grain Initiative. We have also investigated the impacts of numerous trade policies from tariffs to quotas and have been heavily focusing on agricultural and food supply chains and associated food insecurity.

Our research on agricultural supply chains and international trade has been enriched by our collaborations with scholars in Ukraine, through the unique, outstanding partnership between UMass Amherst and the Kyiv School of Economics (KSE) that I have blogged about.

It is very much appreciated when the research that we are involved in gets attention from the news media. 

UMass Amherst issued this release on the paper, "Ukraine – Addressing the domestic humanitarian crisis and the effects of the war on global food systems,"  that I was deeply honored to contribute to and which was presented by my KSE colleague, Professor Oleg Nivievskyi, at the Vatican in May at the Workshop on Food and Humanitarian Crises. The paper can be directly accessed here.

Also, the University World News published a very moving article by Nathan M. Greenfield: "Partnership with US scholars helps to keep Ukraine HE alive." 

In the article,  Greenfield notes our paper, "Multicommodity international agricultural trade network equilibrium: Competition for limited production and transportation capacity under disaster scenarios with implications for food security, "  just published in the European Journal of Operational Research and done with my Isenberg School PhD student Dana Hassani and KSE scholars: Professor Oleg Nivievskyi and Dr. Pavlo Martyshev. 

In addition, the article in University World News discusses the recent paper I wrote with KSE Professor Elena Besedina, "A multicommodity spatial price equilibrium model with exchange rates and non-tariff measures for agri-food international trade," which was published in Operations Research Forum.

Preprints of the above papers, as well as others of our research group can be found on the Supernetworks Center site.

Collaborations across continents during wartime help to reduce brain drain and also deepen the research insights. Very grateful for the collaborations with scholars in Ukraine, which continue. Giving enhanced visibility to scholars in Ukraine provides valuable professional and psychological support during very challenging times.

Many thanks  for the news coverage!

Accomplishments of the Virtual Scholars in Ukraine Program 1 Year in - The Global Partnership Between UMass Amherst and the Kyiv School of Economics

The one year anniversary of the Virtual Welcome for Scholars in Ukraine supported by the outstanding partnership between the University of Massachusetts Amherst and the Kyiv School of Economics (KSE) is approaching. That event, held on November 30, 2022, featuring scholars in Ukraine and their faculty hosts at the Isenberg School of Management, was laudable and incredibly moving, with the scholars having to take part in the event for a time at the KSE bomb shelter.

The Virtual Welcome event jump started the research and collaborations of the scholars in Ukraine with their faculty hosts at the Isenberg School. To-date, a total of 15 Virtual Scholars have been supported, with 9 of them (Elena Besedina, Nina Chala, Yuriy Dyachenko, Iuliia Kuntsevych, Myroslava Kushnir, Pavlo Martyshev, Viktor Maziarchuk, Maksym Obrizan, Pavlo Prokopovych) placed with Isenberg School faculty, and 5 others (Petro Chorniy, Nadiia Koval, Borys Kormych, Anton Liagusha, Hanna Zaremba-Kosovych) with faculty in Social and Behavioral Sciences and 1 (Georgiy Shevchenko)  in Math/Stats at UMass Amherst.

Thanks to all the faculty hosts at the Isenberg School: Professors Alicia Johnson of Marketing, Anya Mkrtchyan of Finance, Nora Junaid of OIM, Muzzo Uysal of HTM, Ina Ganguli of Management, and yours truly, also of OIM.

The program is helping to reduce the Brain Drain of researchers from Ukraine and, to-date, has led to a remarkable outgrowth of brainstorming sessions, journal publications as well as submissions, conference presentations, and even engagement of students in accompanying research projects. Importantly, it has also enriched the understanding of Ukraine and challenges in wartime for researchers and higher education. The Virtual Scholars represent not just KSE but also other universities including the Ukrainian Catholic University and the National University Odesa Law Academy.

UMass Amherst also hosted the visit of the President of KSE - Tymofiy Mylovanov on February 2, 2023 and that of the Rector - Tymofii Brik on May 3, 2023. Rector Brik took part that day in a Virtual Symposium that we had organized featuring the Virtual Scholars in Ukraine and their faculty hosts and also delivered an excellent seminar. 

Deep gratitude is extended to the UMass Amherst International Programs Office under its Director Kalpen Trivedi, who was instrumental in making this partnership a reality, with Ukraine and its higher educational institutions dealing with many challenges, since the full-scale invasion by Russia on February 24, 2022. Thanks also to Isenberg Dean Anne P. Massey for her extremely meaningful support of the partnership and of the Virtual Scholars. Thanks to the Isenberg School Virtual Scholar Selection Committee that included Associate Deans George Milne and Nikunj Kapadia and Bogdan Prokopovych and to all the Department Chairs who have been very helpful including the OIM Chair Senay Solak, the Marketing Chair Elizabeth Miller, the former Management Chair Bruce Skaggs, and the former HTM Chair (and faculty host) Muzzo Uysal.

And, this academic year, UMass Amherst, as part of the partnership, is hosting 4 exchange students from the Kyiv School of Economics. Recently, we held a welcome event to introduce them to the community.

Some of the research that we have been involved in with Scholars in Ukraine can be found on the Virtual Center for Supernetworks website. I am thrilled that even one of my Isenberg School PhD students, Dana Hassani, has been engaged in research with us. To-date, our collaborations, have yielded publications in such journals as: European Journal of Operational Research, Journal of Global Optimization, and Operations Research Forum as well as in the Proceedings of a Workshop hosted by the Pontifical Academy of Sciences. The research continues as do the growing friendships across the miles.

Many OpEds and other publications in the media have also been written related to the research and partnership and interviews taken part in.

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.

Higher Education in the US and Ukraine Panel - Meet the Exchange Students from the Kyiv School of Economics at UMass Amherst

Yesterday was a very special evening at UMass Amherst. The UMass Amherst INFORMS Student Chapter organized a special event, "Higher Education in the US and Ukraine Panel - Meet the Exchange Students from the Kyiv School of Economics."

The 4 exchange students from Ukraine, who are now studying at UMass Amherst, are taking courses in my Operations and Information Management (OIM) Department and in Economics, Resource Economics and Mathematics.

The exchange is part of an outstanding partnership between UMass Amherst and the Kyiv School of Economics (KSE), made possible through the International Programs Office at UMass Amherst and its Director, the Vice Provost for Global Affairs Kalpen Trivedi.

Below is a collage of photos from the panel, which took place at the Isenberg School of Management.

The UMass Amherst INFORMS Student Chapter Officers, under its President, Dana Hassani, did an excellent job of promoting the event and it was featured on the UMass Amherst webpage. They also secured the room for the panel and designed the nice poster below.

Assisting me with the moderation last evening was my great colleague from the Management Department, Bogdan Prokopovych.

In the presentation, background was provided about this unique partnership, which, in addition to the student exchange program, has helped to support 15 Virtual Scholars in Ukraine, who have been matched with faculty hosts at UMass Amherst.

The full slidedeck can be viewed here. The slidedeck contains background on KSE and the partnership and also includes a video provided by KSE Rector Tymofii Brik to welcome the exchange students from Ukraine.

In the slidedeck are also posted questions that our panelists responded to yesterday prior to the Q&A with the audience.

It was a very warm and inspirational evening. The questions began with some "lighter" ones concerning their favorite foods at the award-winning UMass Amherst Dining Commons, to questions on teaching styles of professors at KSE versus UMass Amherst. Questions were also asked on what they will bring back from UMass to KSE. The answers from our panelists were interesting and very informative. I was especially touched by the exchange students' dedication to help in the recovery and reconstruction of Ukraine and, hence, their desire to achieve the best education possible.

They delighted the audience with their expressions of joy at seeing a UMass hockey game and various sports; their enthusiasm at using our stunning Recreation Center; their enjoyment of the many student clubs at UMass Amherst, including our OIM Student Club!

Our exchange students from KSE appreciate the expansive size of our beautiful UMass Amherst campus, the lovely Amherst Town Center, the beauty of the surrounding nature and the peace.

In the slidedeck, administrators and faculty are thanked and also 3 special preceding events that we co-organized last year highlighted.

Thanks to all, who, in support of this partnership, have helped to reduce brain drain from Ukraine; have helped to forge new, impactful research collaborations across the miles in wartime, and these collaborations have led to sustained friendships, and are now educating and supporting students from Ukraine. I believe that we are learning even more from the students than they are from us.