Jacyk Foundation Promotes
Ukrainian Historical Research
Gift of $500,000 advances
study of Modern Ukrainian History and Society at University of Alberta
The Jacyk Program will
focus on supporting scholars who seek deeper perspectives on Ukrainian culture
Edmonton—The
Petro Jacyk Education Foundation is contributing $500,000 to the Canadian
Institute of Ukrainian Studies (CIUS) at the University of Alberta.
This gift, to be matched by the university, will enable the study of Ukraine’s
modern history and society in the 20th Century and beyond.
“This new program is
exciting,” said Nadia Jacyk, President of the Petro Jacyk Education Foundation
and daughter of its founder. “Not only is it an example of the continuation of
the mandate and legacy of the Petro Jacyk Education Foundation into the next
generation, but also unique in that it involves the co-operation of three
scholarly institutions here in Canada
and across the ocean in Ukraine.
“Ukrainian history will receive the attention it deserves,” added Ms. Jacyk.
The $500,000 gift further
enhances existing studies at the Peter Jacyk Centre for Ukrainian Historical
Research, which was established through a $1 million contribution to the U of A
in 1989 for the purpose of studying Ukraine’s dynamic history.
“Outside of Ukraine, the University
of Alberta is a leader in Ukrainian
Studies in Canada
and across the world. This gift will allow the university to continue and
broaden this leadership role,” said Indira Samarasekera, President of the University of Alberta. “It will also advance important
international activities of the U of A through the funding of joint ventures
with Ukrainian universities, with whom we have many co-operative agreements
that promote research and learning opportunities for faculty and students.”
The Petro Jacyk Program for
the Study of Modern Ukrainian History and Society is a co-operative venture
with two universities in Lviv, Ukraine: the National
Ivan Franko
University and the Ukrainian Catholic
University. Scholars in Canada and Ukraine
will be encouraged to study significant historical events such as the
Genocide-Famine of 1932-33, Ukraine’s
part in the Second World War and the dissident movement in Soviet Ukraine. The
program will sponsor a journal and organise international symposia on topics in
Modern Ukrainian History. The first research and publication projects will
focus on oral history, based on collections of the Lviv University Institute of
Historical Studies.
The Jacyk donation builds on
other CIUS and U of A initiatives to research, promote and preserve Ukrainian
and Eastern European History and Culture, including the Hrushevsky Translation
Project, the CIUS Press—a leading publisher of scholarly books about Ukrainians
in Canada and the overall Ukrainian experience—and the Ukrainian Language
Education Centre.
* * *
Peter (Petro) Jacyk was born in 1921 in Verkhnie Syniovydne, Ukraine. He immigrated to Canada in 1949
and established a successful building construction and land development firm.
During his lifetime, he contributed to many causes for preserving Ukrainian
History and Heritage through the Petro Jacyk Educational Foundation, including
a $1 million donation to establish the Jacyk Centre for Ukrainian Historical
Research in 1989 at the Canadian Institute for Ukrainian Studies at the University of Alberta. Internationally, Jacyk has also
funded Ukrainian Studies at Harvard and Columbia
University, the University
of London as well as the University of Toronto. He was awarded an honorary
Doctorate of Laws by the University
of Alberta in 1995. He
passed away in 2001.
* * *
The Canadian Institute for Ukrainian Studies
(CIUS) was established at the University
of Alberta in 1976 to
provide institutional support for the development of Ukrainian scholarship and
cultural heritage. It opened with a $350,000 commitment in annual funding from
the Alberta government and was the largest
allotment of public funds received by a Ukrainian community project outside Ukraine.
Housed in Pembina Hall on
the University of Alberta Campus, CIUS is jointly based at the University of Toronto, and is home to many initiatives
that celebrate and preserve Ukrainian culture. Projects have included an
encyclopedia of Ukraine, an
in-house press that is the leading publisher of books about Ukraine and Ukrainians in Canada and
research programs in Ukrainian religion, language and literature. To learn more
about CIUS visit http://www.ualberta.ca/CIUS/cius-centres.htm