LVIV – In December 2019, the Senate of the Ukrainian Catholic University was joined by four new members: Volodymyr Lavrenchuk, Olena Vovk, Taras Szmagala, Jr. and Michael (Mykhailo) Salo, the first UCU graduate to join the UCU Senate.
The Senate, or supervisory council, is the fully-authorized collegial structure of governance and control of the Ukrainian Catholic University, which determines the main principles and directions of its development and makes decisions on the most important questions regarding its activities. It helps acquire financial resources to support UCU activities and the effective cooperation of the university with state structures and local authorities, the scholarly public, sociopolitical organizations, and businesses in the interests of development and raising the quality of educational activity and the competitiveness of the university, etc.
Today, the Senate includes 15 people elected for two-, three- and four-year terms who cannot be elected for more than two terms. Eleven Senate members are elected by other Senate members. The Senate also includes the president of UCU, the rector of UCU, one representative of the UCU Academic Council and two representatives from the St. Clement Foundation, which is the founder of the university.
Following is information about the professional experience of the new senators and their impressions about their appointment.
Volodymyr Lavrenchuk
— Volodymyr Lavrenchuk has worked in the banking field since 1982. He worked as an economist in the Ukrainian Republic Office of the State Bank of the USSR. In 1988-1997, he worked at the Savings Bank of Ukraine in positions from head economist to assistant to the head of the board. In 1997-2002, he was head of the board of Ukrinbank. In 2002, he became a member of the board of Aval Bank. Since October 2005, he has been head of the board of Raiffeisen Aval Bank (after the purchase of Aval Bank by the Austrian Raiffeisen Bank International). In addition to his main work, Mr. Lavrenchuk is a member of the board of the European Business Association. In 2011, the magazine Companion ranked him among the five most authoritative top managers in all fields of Ukrainian economics. He was the “Banker of the Year 2014,” according to the financial rating of the newspaper Business. In 2015, the magazine Companion named Mr. Lavrenchuk as Ukraine’s most authoritative banker.
Education: Kyiv Institute of National Economy in the specialty of economist (today the Vadym Hetman Kyiv National Economic University).
Mykhailo Salo
— Michael (Mykhailo) Salo, COO, managing partner of the company Romexsoft, is a member of the academic council of the Lviv Business School’s M.S. in Technology Management Program and a member of the UCU investment council. Mr. Salo is actively involved in the non-commercial sector: he is president of the Lviv Education Foundation and was a member of the administrative council of L’Arche-Ukraine. He previously held the post of financial director of Lviv Business School in 2010-2016. In 2006-2010, he was financial director of the Ukrainian Catholic University and assistant to UCU’s first vice-rector for administrative and financial affairs.
Education: Ukrainian Catholic University, master’s in theology; Economics Faculty of the Institute of Post-Diploma Education of Ivan Franko National University in Lviv. He interned in the Financial Department of Seton Hall University in New Jersey.
Mr. Salo commented: “UCU is a special place. I studied here as one of the first students of the Lviv Theological Academy. For me, the university was always a place of development, friendship, trust and acceptance, a place of encounter with people who are not afraid of great challenges, who take responsibility and then act. For me, becoming a senator of the university is a great honor, trust and responsibility for the development of the university, the responsibility to be a good representative of the university, its advocate, through my actions to foster the further development of this special place, where its staff and students can witness, serve, and communicate.”
Olena Vovk
— Olena Vovk, head of the supervisory council of Enzym Company, which is the leading Ukrainian producer of baker’s yeast. It exports 40 percent of its products. In 2018, she took part in the work of the committee evaluating UCU’s executive culture. Ms. Vovk is also a member of the Supervisory Council of Kormotech LLC and the Academic Council of the Key Executive MBA Program of UCU’s Lviv Business School.
Education: master’s in international business and finance from Columbia University in New York.
Taras Szmagala Jr.
— Taras Szmagala, Jr., a noted lawyer and chairman of the board of the Ukrainian Catholic Education Foundation in the U.S.A., is senior vice-president, public and community affairs and corporate communications, at Eaton Corp. Before he started at Eaton, Mr. Szmagala worked as group counsel at Avery Dennison Corporation and as an attorney at Squire, Sanders & Dempsey in Cleveland, Washington and Kyiv. He has held leading positions in a number of civic organizations.
Education: bachelor’s degree from the University of Virginia and doctorate in law from the University of Virginia School of Law.
Mr. Szmagala said of his appointment: “It’s a true blessing for me to have the opportunity to serve and learn in the capacity of new senator of the Ukrainian Catholic University. Though my grandmother and grandfather immigrated to America more than 100 years ago, I belong to the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church and have always felt a deep connection with Ukraine. This opportunity to work together with UCU allows me to put my faith in action and make a humble contribution to the important work of forming future leaders for Ukraine. This also helps me share the story of UCU with the American community. It’s an astounding story which needs to be more widely shared. I am very grateful for this new challenge and eagerly await our first meeting in March.”