Center is renamed for Skalny Foundation

n Sunday, November 12, President Thomas Jackson and Dean of the College William Scott Green will dedicate the renamed Skalny Center for Polish and Central European Studies in honor of the Louis Skalny Foundation.

At the start of a week celebrating Polish heritage and the Polish community in Rochester, the dedication will follow a 2 p.m. Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra performance at the Eastman Theatre. Jeff Tyzik, RPO principal pops conductor, will conduct the free concert of classical Polish works. Tickets are available in advance through Polish organizations or on the day of the performance at the door. Already under way will be the annual Polish Film Festival, which this year honors Oscar-winner Andrzej Wajda and other Polish directors during a cavalcade of showings at the Little Theatre (for more on the film festival see Polish Film Festival shows Wajda films).

The center, which was established in 1994 with a gift from the Louis Skalny Foundation, has attracted many dignitaries and has brought together faculty and students to study the historical legacy and political and economic changes within Central Europe. Some of the center's celebrated guests have included Aleksander Koj, the rector of one of Poland's oldest and premier institutions, Jagiellonian University in Krakow; Grzegorz Kolodko, finance minister and the first deputy premier of Poland, who this fall is teaching in the Department of Political Science as the John C. Evans Visiting Professor in Polish Studies; and Adam Michnik, editor-in-chief of Poland's largest circulation daily and a hero of the opposition to the Communist-run government from 1968 to 1989.

The Rochester-based Skalny Foundation provides the financial support for the center, which is housed within the Department of Political Science. Jagiellonian University and Rochester have an agreement to host visiting professors, offer student exchange opportunities, and promote other scholarly collaborations at their institutions.

More than a dozen professors from Poland have taught at Rochester, and each semester several hundred students take courses offered by the center or taught in conjunction with the center. In 1997, the universities held two joint conferences on the themes of democracy (in Krakow) and the history of Polish workers in Europe and America (in Rochester).

A close relationship with the local Polish-American community has attracted large audiences to the Skalny Lecture and Artist Series for discussions and performances as well as for the annual film festival.

Maintained by University Public Relations
Please send your comments and suggestions to:
Public Relations.