We are delighted to welcome new members to the Shevchenko Scientific Society team.
Dr. Markian Dobczansky has accepted the position of administrative associate of the Society. Among his many responsibilities, he will provide English-language administrative, editorial, membership, and communications support. This position, a first for the Society, is long overdue, and we are very pleased to hire a candidate with such distinguished qualifications.
Markian received his Ph.D. in history from Stanford University, where he studied the Soviet Union, Russian Empire, and 20th century Eastern Europe. He has held post-doctoral and visiting scholar positions at the Harriman Institute at Columbia University and at the University of Toronto, and a pre-doctoral fellowship at George Washington University. Presently he is the Administrator of the Central Eurasian Studies Society and is completing a book manuscript, Between Moscow and Kyiv: The Politics of Culture in Twentieth-Century Kharkiv. As a scholar and member of our society, Markian brings with him an array of experience, outstanding writing skills, and an expert insider’s understanding of the requirements for a professional academic organization. A native of Silver Spring, MD, he was raised as an active member of the Ukrainian community with which he has maintained close ties. Markian will work remotely, as most of us have this past year. He may be contacted at m.dobczansky@shevchenko.org.
Dr. Michael Andrec (Ph.D., Yale) has taken on the role of archives consultant for the Society. At the request of the Board, he has completed a professional in-depth review of the present status and needs of the Shevchenko Scientific Society archives and has begun the arduous task of addressing some of its most urgent challenges with regards to archival storage and description. Dr. Andrec is the highly respected archivist of the Ukrainian History and Education Center located in Somerset, NJ, where he manages its archives and has curated a number of important exhibitions. He also manages the institutional records of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA. Originally trained as a scientist, Michael possesses myriad skills. A graduate of Yale with a Ph.D. in biophysical chemistry, he worked for 13 years at Rutgers University as a computational scientist before becoming an independent consultant, a web developer, and finally a Certified Archivist. In 2017, he created and launched the refurbished shevchenko.org website that we have today. Dr. Andrec is a member of the Shevchenko Scientific Society and we are happy to have him on our team.
Alexander Neprel is our new consultant for building maintenance and upgrades. Alexander is a neighborhood contractor who has worked for and with many Ukrainian institutions in New York City as well as with landlords in the Ukrainian Village. He has been in charge of installing all exhibits at the Ukrainian Museum for over 10 years now and is also a member of the Museum’s building committee. He volunteers in Ukrainian organizations and is the present head of the auditing committee of the Ukrainian World Congress. We are fortunate that he has agreed to take the Society’s building at 63 Fourth Avenue under his care. Currently, he is generously donating his time to the Society, supervising and working on much-needed building repairs and refurbishing of the first-floor lobby, office spaces, and library.
Volodymyr Hnativ (MSE, The Wharton School/UPenn Engineering, University of Pennsylvania) is the Society’s new IT support consultant overseeing our computer hardware, software, data, and networking issues. Volodymyr is presently conducting a review of the Society’s IT resources and will enact a thorough upgrading of our IT capabilities. A senior program manager at the company Chainanalysis, Volodymyr has worked in senior positions with many firms in the Greater New York area. We are grateful for his oversight as we move toward an ever-greater professionalization of our Society.
Kristina Conroy (MA, Boston University) has worked as the Society’s communications consultant since January 2021, advising on live streaming webinar presentations, writing and posting English-language social media content, preparing print materials for press, and training staff in various aspects of online communications. Kristina is employed full-time as communications manager at the Ukrainian Research Institute, Harvard University. She has a background in Slavic and East-European studies, with a masters’ thesis on post-communist church-state relations in Poland and Russia.
Anton Varga (MFA, Kharkiv National Academy of Design and Arts) has worked as the Society’s graphic designer since October 2019, creating a new brand style for the organization and designing and managing the production of our Newsletter and event announcements. A respected Ukrainian artist, Anton curated the National Pavilion of Ukraine at the 59th Venice Biennial of Art in 2019. He also holds a degree in film and media from Hunter College in New York.
The Society’s offices (kantseliariia) continue to be managed by our long-time Ukrainian-language communications officer and programs coordinator Vasyl Makhno, a renowned Ukrainian writer in his own right. Lev Chaban, the Society’s library curator-consultant continues to manage the library, also handling library and archival research requests and volunteering his time for other society matters. Lev is employed full-time as Slavic Librarian at Harvard University’s Widener Library. Marko Slyz is currently on leave. As of June, our building at 63 Fourth Avenue is open daily from 10 am to 5 pm for internal business and by appointment for researchers and visiting scholars. Our monthly lectures continue to be presented virtually. Please contact our offices at 212–254–5130, or info@shevchenko.org.