December 3, 2007
Political scientist named director of Polish studies
center
katie.perry@rochester.edu
Randall Stone, associate professor of political
science and an expert in international political economy, has been named
the director of the University’s Skalny Center for Polish and Central
European Studies. Stone succeeds Ewa Hauser, adjunct associate professor of
political science, who was director of the center from its inception in
1994 until July 2007.
“Stone is a talented scholar and researcher with
deep knowledge of Central Europe, especially the politics and economics of
Poland,” says Frederic Skalny, a director of the Louis Skalny
Foundation, which endowed the center and continues to support it.
“Randy’s leadership role at the Skalny Center will
substantially advance the center’s mission and the importance of
Poland and Central Europe within the ‘international relations’
field of study that the university is considering. His experiences,
accomplishments, and administrative skills make him a superb choice as the
director of the Skalny Center.”
An academic meeting place for teaching and research,
the Skalny Center brings together faculty and students to study both the
historical legacy and current transformations within Central Europe. The
center focuses specifically on Poland, which played a central role in the
conflicts of the 20th century and has emerged since the collapse of
communism as a growing market economy, a consolidated democracy, and one of
the key players in the newly enlarged European Union and in the NATO
alliance.
Stone plans to build on the existing programs of
the center, with the objective of forging a stronger scholarly presence in
the field of Polish and Central European studies. The center’s work
will increasingly focus on international relations, the politics of
economic reform, and the consolidation of democratic institutions in
Central Europe.
“The center will play an important role in one
of the most significant curricular innovations that is considered in the
College’s strategic plan, the possible development of a new major in
international relations,” Stone says.
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