NOTES ON PEOPLE (12/14/97)

NOTES ON PEOPLE

Prof authors book on financial networks

AMHERST, Mass. - Anna Bobiak Nagurney, professor of management science in the Isenberg School of Management at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, has published the book "Financial Networks: Statics and Dynamics" with Stavros Siokos of Salomon Brothers in London.

The book, published by Springer Verlag of Heidelberg and New York, presents a new theory of multi-sector, multi-instrument financial systems based on the visualization of such systems as networks. It adds a graphical dimension to the fundamental economic structure of financial systems and their evolution through time.

The book was written during the fall of 1996 while Prof. Nagurney and her family were in Stockholm, Sweden, where she was a distinguished guest professor at the Royal Institute of Technology, KTH. She was invited to be the first holder of the guest professorship, which is designed to increase the visibility of female academics in science and engineering, after a yearlong international search.

Founded in 1825, the Royal Institute of Technology is the largest and premier engineering/technical institution in Sweden. With 9,000 students, approximately one-third of all engineering research and education in Sweden occurs at KTH.

At KTH, Prof. Nagurney collaborated with faculty and students in the Division of Infrastructure and Planning, and the Division of Systems Theory and Optimization. She also taught a Ph.D. course on her specialty, variational inequalities and projected dynamical systems. She participated in various conferences and summer schools, as well as lectured in the Scandinavian countries.

As an additional part of her activities at KTH, she worked with Prof. Janne Carlsson, rector of KTH, and Prof. Ingmar Grenthe, vice-president, to develop programs and initiatives to encourage women into the sciences and engineering. While Sweden has a high percentage of females in the workforce, the number of females in science and engineering has stagnated at about 20 percent, with a minimal increase since the early 1980s.

During their stay in Sweden, her husband, Prof. Ladimer S. Nagurney, an associate professor of electrical engineering at the University of Hartford, was a guest professor in the Electronic Systems Design Laboratory of the Department of Electrical Engineering at KTH Kista. While at KTH, he continued his research on future generations of personal communications and wireless networking, and taught a Ph.D. course on digital RF techniques.

Prof. Anna Nagurney was born in Windsor, Ontario, and raised in Passaic, N.J., and Yonkers, N.Y. She received A.B., Sc.B., Sc.M. and Ph.D. degrees from Brown University in Providence, R.I.

Prof. Ladimer S. Nagurney was born and raised in Scranton, Pa. He received his B.S. from Lafayette College, in Easton, Pa., and his M.S. and Ph.D. from Brown University.

Both Profs. Nagurneys are members of the Shevchenko Scientific Society and UNA Branch 123 in Scranton.

College senior helps victims of Chornobyl

FARMVILLE, Va. - Raissa Czemerynski, a Ukrainian American senior at Longwood College, was able to help some sick kids thousands of miles away this summer by combining her longtime interest in the victims of the Chornobyl nuclear disaster with her academic major.

Thanks to dogged determination on her part and help from the college's International Studies Program, Ms. Czemerynski, who speaks Ukrainian, spent three weeks bringing a little joy to patients in a Ukrainian children's hospital for Chornobyl victims.

"It was a case of a longtime dream of mine becoming a reality," said the therapeutic recreation major from Philadelphia. "l had always been affected by the suffering of the children and wanted to help them."

In a project she organized completely on her own, Ms. Czemerynski worked on July 23-August 13 at the Lviv Regional Specialized Children's Hospital, which houses about 180 children ranging in age from 2 months to 14 years. For five days a week, from 8 a.m. to at least 4 p.m., she worked primarily with about 50 kids between the ages of 8 and 10 who have lymphomas and various types of blood cancer, including leukemia.

"I did therapeutic recreation interventions with the children; we played ball, colored, sang, did exercises and hospital play therapy, took walks, ate chocolate and read stories. This simple play - a right denied them because of Ukraine's poor economic conditions - brought smiles, took away pain, gave them strength for one more treatment and rekindled hope, if only for a few minutes."

"They have no resources," she added. "It's a children's hospital, with only white-walled rooms and beds. I brought two duffel bags full of toys, crayons, markers, coloring books, puzzles and hats, specifically for those who have lost their hair in chemotherapy. It was stressful but enjoyable. The staff didn't really understand what I was doing - they had never heard of therapeutic recreation, but they let me do it. People there were fascinated that I could speak Ukrainian and wanted to know everything about my family."

During her stay, six patients in that hospital died; most of the deaths could have been prevented in U.S. hospitals. "They had only two oxygen masks, and they were for the intensive care unit," she said.

Ms. Czemerynski's interest in alleviating the suffering caused by the world's worst nuclear disaster was sparked while growing up in a Ukrainian family in Philadelphia.

After deciding she wanted to go to Ukraine to help Chornobyl's victims, Ms. Czemerynski contacted Roman Dashawetz, director of Emergency Medical Aid for Ukraine, based in Yonkers, N.Y. Mr. Dashawetz recommended she write to Dr. Oleksander Myndiuk, the chief doctor at the Lviv hospital.

"I wrote him a few letters, and he sent me a letter in March saying that although the hospital could not pay me a stipend or provide me with room and board, I was free to come there. That was fine, though. I was able to stay with family friends during my visit."

Ms. Czemerynski needed one more thing: airfare. "I spent about six months contacting more than 50 American relief agencies, but most said they provide only direct relief." She had "almost given up" when she got in touch with Dr. John Reynolds, director of the International Studies Program, who promised to contribute toward the cost of the airfare if she could find a reasonably priced ticket, which eventually she did.

This was her second trip to Ukraine. In the summer of 1994, just after graduating from high school and before entering Longwood, she participated in an archeological excavation in Kamianets Podilskyi, arranged through York University of Toronto.

Ms. Czemerynski is in the Honors Program, has been president of the Therapeutic Recreation Organization since her sophomore year, and was one of about 15 therapeutic recreation majors who worked as volunteer aides at the 1996 Paralympic Games in Atlanta, for people with disabilities.

She is a graduate of the Philadelphia High School for Girls. Her parents are Roman and Nadya Czemerynski.

Ms. Czemerynski is a member of UNA Branch 216.

Completes doctorate in business education

DEKALB, Ill. - Oleh G. Boraczok, son of Jaroslawa Boraczok and the late Marian J. Boraczok of Buffalo, N.Y., completed his doctorate in business education summa cum laude at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, Ill.

In October Dr. Boraczok successfully defended his dissertation, "Task Analysis of Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) Coordinator Tasks as Perceived by Practicing EDI Coordinators."

Dr. Boraczok began his higher education by completing a bachelor's degree in psychology from the State University of New York at Buffalo. He then pursued an M.B.A. in information systems, attending evening classes at Long Island University. In 1990 Dr. Boraczok began his evening doctoral classes by pursuing a double major: business education and management.

Dr. Boraczok was a longtime member and counselor in Plast, and participated in many Ukrainian community activities while living in Buffalo and California.

He currently lives and works in Madison, Wisc., where he is an information systems manager for an insurance company. Dr. Boraczok is also a part-time professor of computer science at Madison Area Technical College.

He is a member of UNA Branch 25.

Named chairman of board at Midland

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Ihor W. Hron assumed the additional role of chairman of the board of The Midland Life Insurance Co. following the retirement of Gerald E. Mayo on October 23. Mr. Hron joined The Midland in 1994 as president and chief executive officer.

Prior to joining The Midland, Mr. Hron served as president of Fidelity and Guaranty Life Insurance Co., a life insurance subsidiary of USF&G. While maintaining his role as president of F&G, he also served as chairman and president of another USF&G subsidiary, Thomas Jefferson Life of New York, and was vice-president of Fidelity and Guaranty Financial Service.

Before he joined USF&G, Mr. Hron was with the Connecticut General Life Insurance Co. for 17 years. There, he managed the brokerage sales operation and worked in reinsurance and group pensions.

Active in the business community, Mr. Hron has served on the board of directors of Health Link Group, U.S. Eagle Fund. He is currently a member of the board of trustees of the Columbus Symphony Orchestra, and is an active supporter of community efforts such as the Adopt-A-School Program.

Mr. Hron and his wife, Olya, currently reside in Lewis Center, Ohio.

Founded in 1905, The Midland Life Insurance Co. markets life insurance and annuities through a brokerage network in 45 states. The Midland is a pioneer in level term, universal life and single-premium whole life policies, and is known in the industry for its aggressive approach to risk-impairment policies. The company has assets of over $1.2 billion and has $33 billion of life insurance and annuities in force.

Mr. Hron is a member of UNA Branch 277.

Valedictorian named Presidential Scholar

BETHEL, Vt. - Romko Stanchak, Whitcomb High School valedictorian, received the 1997 Presidential Scholar award during National Recognition Week in Washington on June 24-29. During his trip to Washington, Mr. Stanchak was presented with a medallion and met with President Bill Clinton.

Of the 2.64 million high school seniors who graduated in 1997, Mr. Stanchak was one of 141 to be chosen as a Presidential Scholar by the U.S. Department of Education. Scholars are selected based on leadership, scholarship, contributions to school and community, and exceptional accomplishments in the arts, sciences and other fields of interest.

Mr. Stanchak's interests include mathematics and science - he scored a perfect 800 on the mathematics portion of the SATs. During his junior and senior years in high school, Mr. Stanchak attended classes such as multivariable calculus at Dartmouth and Vermont Technical College.

He also enjoys painting and drawing, and was nicknamed "Rembrandt Romko" by his classmates at Whitcomb High. Mr. Stanchak planned to attend Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh this fall.

Mr. Stanchak, son of Olenka and Slavko Stanchak, is a member of UNA Branch 238 in Boston.

Sworn in as county's assistant prosecutor

BERKELEY HEIGHTS, N.J. - Jonathan Walter Romankow of Berkeley Heights, N.J., was recently sworn in as an assistant prosecutor in the Union County Prosecutor's Office in Elizabeth, N.J.

Mr. Romankow is a graduate of The Catholic University of America in Washington, and received his juris doctor at Seton Hall Law School in Newark, N.J.

His parents are Theodore and Daria Romankow, and his grandparents are Sam and Helen Chornomaz, all of Berkeley Heights. Mr. Romankow is a member of UNA Branch 490.

Travels to Japan on Fulbright grant

ELKHART, Ind. - John Sadowey, a teacher at Pierre Moran Middle School here, traveled to Japan as part of the Fulbright Memorial Fund Teacher Program in October. Mr. Sadowey was selected from among 2,000 applicants for the program.

The group of teachers spent three days in Tokyo, then two weeks in different states studying the Japanese education system and living with Japanese families.

The teachers' trip was fully funded by the Japanese government, which launched the program in honor of the Fulbright Program. Nearly 6,000 Japanese citizens have come to the United States on Fulbright Scholarships during the 50 years of its existence. The Fulbright Memorial Fund Teacher Program is scheduled to bring 5,000 teachers to Japan in the next five years.

Mr. Sadowey's family are members of UNA Branch 25.

Named senior VP at Northeast utility

WESTBOROUGH, Mass. - Massachusetts Electric, a NEES company, announced on October 1 that Lydia Pastuszek has been elected senior vice-president, customer service. She was most recently vice-president of business services for the company's North Shore and Merrimack Valley districts.

Ms. Pastuszek has been with the NEES companies for 16 years and has served as president of Granite State Electric Co., and vice-president of New England Power Co. She is a trustee of Clark University, where she received her B.A. degree cum laude. She also received a master's degree in city and regional planning from Harvard University.

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