Newsletter 2019
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Newsletter 2019 Volume LXVIII ISSN: 1081-2776 Table of Contants Board of Trustees: S t a ff: Alex Storozynski Marek Skulimowski Message from the President _____ 3 Prof. Krzysztof Matyjaszewski Gives a Lecture at the KF _______ 31 Chairman of the Board President and Executive Director Th e 2019 Exchange Program Wanda M. Senko Jolanta Kowalski to the United States ____________ 5 66th Chopin Piano Competition __ 32 Vice–Chair Chief Financial Offi cer Th e Many Faces S. Moniuszko Birth Bicentenary _34 Cynthia Rosicki, Esq. Ewa Zadworna of Tamara de Lempicka __________ 6 Vice–Chair Director of Cultural Aff airs Marcella Sembrich International KF gives ten grants for Summer Andrzej Rojek Barbara Bernhardt Voice Competition ____________ 35 Study – 1934 __________________8 Vice–Chair Director, Washington, D.C. Wieniawski Violin Competition __38 Joseph E. Gore, Esq. Addy Tymczyszyn 84th Ball Highlights ____________ 10 Past Cultural Events ___________39 Corporate Secretary Program Offi cer, Scholarships & A salute to Polish Opera Star ____ 16 Peter S. Novak Grants for Americans Upcoming Events _____________42 Treasurer Malgorzata Szymanska Th e KF Frank Wilczek Award ____ 17 2019–2020 Exchange Exchange Program Offi cer Networking, Professional Career Fellowships and Grants ________44 Margaret Kozlowska Building & Scholarships Event __ 18 Miroslaw Brys, M.D., Ph.D. Rental Events Manager Exchange Program to the U.S. ___45 Th e Kosciuszko Foundation Piotr Chomczynski, Ph.D. Dominika Orwat Alumni Association ____________ 19 2018–2019 Scholarships Hanna Chroboczek Kelker, Ph.D. Development Manager and Grants for Americans _______ 51 Words from our Scholar ________20 Zbigniew Darzynkiewicz, M.D., Ph.D. Alicja Grygiel 2018–2019 KF Members _______64 Ambassador Lee Feinstein Membership Offi cer 2019 Teaching English Rachael Jarosh Izabella Laskowska in Poland Program _____________ 21 In Memoriam _________________ 75 Christopher Kolasa, M.D. Receptionist Th e KF Scholar awarded Charitable bequest ____________ 78 Alexander Koproski Leszek Tyburczy by Harvard School of Design ____ 22 Marian A. Kornilowicz, Esq. Building Superintendent 2019 FameLab Talking Science __ 23 Stephen Kusmierczak Mariola Sosnowska Wlodek Mandecki, Ph.D. Housekeeper Th e Ohio Chapter Report _______24 Victor Markowicz Th e New England Michal H. Mrozek Grażyna Czetwertyńska, Ph.D. Chapter Report _______________ 25 Marek M. Pienkowski, M.D., Ph.D. President, KF Poland Th e Pittsburgh Prof. Waldemar Priebe Aleksandra Kujawska Chapter Report _______________26 Ewa Radwanska, M.D., Ph.D. Warsaw Offi ce Manager Th e Philadelphia Sigmund Rolat Dorota Kraśniewska Chapter Report _______________ 27 Krzysztof Rostek TEIP Program Coordinator Boleslaw Ryzinski Annual Polish Day at KF DC _____28 Henry Sikorski, Ph.D. Th e Forgotten Polish Oscars ____30 Joseph Swiader Artur Szymanski Wojciech Uzdelewicz Henry C. Walentowicz, Esq. Adriana Wos-Mysliwiec, Esq. THE KF WARSAW OFFICE HEADQUARTERS ul. Dobra 56/66 15 East 65th Street 00–312 Warsaw New York, NY 10065 Poland tel. 212–734–2130 tel. +48 (22) 621 70 67 WASHINGTON, www.thekf.org Th e Kosciuszko Foundation would like to express its sincere thanks D.C. CENTER to Gregory D. Engel for his diligent proofreading of this Newsletter. 2025 O Street NW Washington, D.C. 20036 Cover Photo: “Tamara de Lempicka – Photo credit: CAMUZZI, circa 1934/37” tel. 202–785–2320 by Marek Skulimowski “In the beginning, there was President & Executive Director nothing – only an idea and a few people who believed in it” said Stephen Mizwa in 1970 about the beginnings of the Kosciuszko Foundation in 1925. Since its inception, the Kosciuszko Foundation has founded scholarships and grants for cohorts of scholars and students in Poland and the United States. Nowadays, we spend nearly one million dollars annually on providing academic scholarships and another quarter of a million dollars on the promotion of Polish culture. In the academic year of 2018–2019, we awarded 38 scholars from Poland to participate in the “Exchange Program to the US.” In May 2019, the U.S Ambassador to Poland, Georgette tremendous success. We had 522 participants (7–18 years of age), Mosbacher, hosted a reception at her residence in Warsaw to 81 American staff (teachers, teaching assistants, and peer tutors) honor the newly elected fellows and grantees. Ambassador who cooperated with 115 Polish teachers. We are hoping to grow Mosbacher called their “breadth of knowledge and expertise” the program to 7–8 camps next year. inspiring. To mark this year's centennial of diplomatic relations between Poland and the U.S., Professor Halina Parafi anowicz, For nearly 100 years the Foundation has played a pivotal role from the University of Bialystok, was honored with the prestigious in forging the mutual bonds between Poland and the U.S. “Centennial Award” created jointly by the U.S. Embassy and the During this year’s Annual Fundraising Dinner and Ball, we paid Kosciuszko Foundation. tribute to those Americans and Poles, who contributed enormously in promoting Polish culture and democratic changes in Central As part of our mission in strengthening relations between Poland & Eastern Europe. Th e honorees of this year's gala were the and the U.S., the Foundation awarded 86 American students Honorary Chuck Hagel, former U.S. Senator & Secretary of of Polish descent with tuition scholarships this year. Th ese Defense, and Vietnam War veteran, Tomasz Konieczny, a renowned scholarships help support the increasing costs of pursuing higher Polish opera singer. Th e Ball was chaired by Henry Sikorski, Ph.D., education in the United States for students and range from $1000 a dedicated Kosciuszko Foundation Trustee. to $6000. Th anks to the support of the Tomaszkiewicz-Florio Scholarships and the Wisconsin Study in Poland Scholarships, we were also able to send 20 Polish American students to attend the Study Abroad program at the Jagiellonian University in Krakow. Students took part in intensive Polish language classes and were exposed to courses that include Polish Grammar, History of Poland, Polish Culture and Literature. Th is year marks the 80th anniversary of the outbreak of World War II, when Nazi Germany and then the Soviet Union invaded In March 2019, the Kosciuszko Foundation Poland, Polish American Poland. In February 1940, the KF Board of Trustees decided to Freedom Foundation, and the Foundation for the Development of “help save the brains of Poland.” Th e Foundation attempted to the Education System joined forces to hold a series of intensive negotiate with the German occupant, through the American workshops centered on curriculum review for the “Teaching English Red Cross channels, to release the scholars in Warsaw and in Poland” program. Th anks to their collaboration, this summer’s Krakow. At the same time, fi nancial assistance was sent to Wilno program was held in four locations throughout Poland and was a (Vilnius) and Lwow (Lviv). Th ose professors who managed to message from the president 3 reach the U.S. were assisted in getting academic the Professor Frank Wilczek Award for high- From left: U.S. Ambassador positions. Financial support was provided to achieving young Polish scientists. The award Georgette Mosbacher, approximately 800 Polish soldiers and refugees of $12,000 will be presented every two years Prof. Halina Parafianowicz and interned in Switzerland. Between 1939 and to young Polish scientists who have made a KF President Marek Skulimowski 1943, the KF supported around 250 scholars significant discovery in physics, astronomy or ( Photo: US Embassy archive) and intellectuals in the occupied territories and similar fields. elsewhere. My team and I at the Kosciuszko Foundation are While it is important to remember history and the working hard to raise money to be able to offer past, we look to the future when thinking about more scholarships and grants for talented Polish the educational and cultural exchanges between Americans and Poles in Poland. Poland and the U.S. We count on your support to continue the We are also pleased to announce the partnership Kosciuszko Foundation’s mission! with the Jagiellonian University in establishing The Foundation's programs and services are made possible thanks to the generosity of our donors and volunteers. We encourage you to become a member of the Kosciuszko Foundation and sponsor a wide range of scholarships, cultural programs, and building restoration. Become a part of the most effective Polish-American institution in the United States. 4 message from the president the exchange program to the united states – Award Ceremony at the U.S. Embassy in Warsaw On May 16th, 2019, the Kosciuszko Foundation President Marek Profesor Waldemar Skulimowski along with the US Ambassador to Poland Georgette Priebe with Ambassador Mosbacher recognized the Foundation’s new 38 grant and Georgette Mosbacher fellowship recipients of the 2019–2020 academic year. The grantees will conduct research for 3–6 months in the sciences, humanities, law and economy, arts, and Polish studies at some of the United States’ top educational institutions including Stanford University, Harvard University, Harvard Medical School, Columbia University and more. The grant and fellowship awards were presented during the reception hosted by Ambassador Mosbacher at her residence in Warsaw, Poland. While addressing the newly selected fellows, Ambassador Mosbacher called their “breadth of knowledge and Polish-American women.” The project will explore U.S. women’s expertise inspiring.”