University of Alberta and CIUS honor the memory of Peter Jacyk (05/15/05)

University of Alberta and CIUS honor the memory of Peter Jacyk

by Anna Biscoe

EDMONTON - The president of the University of Alberta, Dr. Rod Fraser, and the Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies hosted an intimate dinner on April 11 in which the memory and philanthropy of Peter Jacyk in support of Ukrainian studies were honored. The evening also marked the 16th anniversary of the Peter Jacyk Center for Ukrainian Historical Research, which was established at Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies at the University of Alberta in 1989.

In his remarks, Dr. Fraser spoke of Ukrainian studies as being one of the steeples of excellence at the University of Alberta. He noted that the Peter Jacyk Center and CIUS maintained a high standard of scholarship, research and publications, all of which were very important to Mr. Jacyk. He also recalled that, during his 10 years as president of the University of Alberta, he had heard Mr. Jacyk give one of the best convocation speeches when he was conferred with an honorary doctorate in 1995.

To mark the special relationship between the university and Mr. Jacyk, Dr. Fraser presented his daughter Nadia Jacyk with a portrait of her father, commissioned by the university. The portrait by Edmonton artists Izabella Orzelski-Konikowski and Bogdan Konikowski includes pictures and photographs that highlight important milestones in Mr. Jacyk's life.

In her thank-you for the tribute to her father's memory and the portrait, Ms. Jacyk spoke of his high regard for the University of Alberta and CIUS, and his appreciation of the excellent work being carried out in Ukrainian studies.

The Peter Jacyk Center for Ukrainian Historical Research was created on the basis of a $1 million endowment from Mr. Jacyk and matched with a $2 million grant from the government of Alberta. Today, that endowment has grown to over $7 million and supports various projects and publications, many of which Mr. Jacyk had selected.

Dr. Zenon Kohut, director of CIUS, spoke highly of how important Mr. Jacyk's contributions were in sustaining Ukrainian scholarship at the university level. Dr. Frank Sysyn, director of the Jacyk Center, outlined the work of the center and, in particular, gave an update on the progress of the monumental translation project of Mykhailo Hrushevsky's 10-volume "History of Ukraine-Rus'." He concluded by saying that Mr. Jacyk is greatly missed.

Among those present at the evening were Judith Fraser and members of the board of directors of the Petro Jacyk Educational Foundation (of which Ms. Jacyk is president): Dr. Jeanette Bayduza, Eugene Zalucky, Dr. Peter Jacyk, Walter Jacyk and Andriy Brygidyr.

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