About Ukrainian Studies Fund

The Ukrainian Studies Fund (also known as the Ukrainian Studies Chair Fund) is a charitable educational organization established by the Ukrainian diaspora in the United States. Its mission is to support and promote educational initiatives while advancing knowledge and awareness of Ukraine and its people. Although its most notable achievement was funding the Ukrainian studies program at Harvard University, the Fund has since expanded its support to various scholarly projects across North America, Europe, and Ukraine.

The Fund also plays a key role in providing scholarships for education, scholarships for students, and scholarship opportunities to encourage academic research and learning. Additionally, it collaborates with donors and institutions to enhance education for Ukrainians through scholarships and grants, educational grants for students, and other financial aid programs.

The largest project of the USF was the funding of the Ukrainian Studies program at Harvard University. Still, over time, the USF has supported many programs at other universities, most notably the Ukrainian Studies program at Columbia University in New York, as well as numerous research projects in North America, Europe, and Ukraine.

In this poster from a fundraising campaign, Kyivan Rus’ military imagery and Christian iconography combine to depict the Center of Ukrainian Studies at Harvard (St. George) slaying untruth and lies about Ukraine (the dragon).

History

The Ukrainian Studies Fund was founded in 1957 at the annual convention of The Federation of Ukrainian Student Organizations of America (SUSTA). Stepan Chemych, a student from New York, together with his friends, raised the issue of the need to spread knowledge about Ukraine in academic circles in the United States.

As a result of the discussions, in 1958, the Fund was officially registered under the name “The Foundation of the Ukrainian Studies Department, Inc.”. The organization’s goal was to establish a professorship in Ukrainian studies at a leading American university. Initially, Stepan Сhemych and his colleagues organized a massive fundraising campaign among the Ukrainian diaspora in the United States, mostly among people who arrived after World War II. Most contributions ranged from $10 to $100, but by the end of the Fund’s first decade, more than a quarter of a million dollars had been raised.

“Around the mid-1950s Ukrainian students at New York University asked that the Ukrainian language be taught. Then Russian (I assume, if not Slavic) Department said that “we teach languages, not dialects.” This was the stimulus for the Ukrainian Student Society in New York to begin the so-called “Fond katedr ukraïnoznavstva” (Ukrainian Studies Fund)”.

Fund Leadership

Stepan Chemych

Founder and first chairman of the Fund (1958-2001) who on a volunteer basis worked tirelessly to make the Fund a reality.

Bohdan Tarnavsky

Close associate of Mr. Chemych, Organizational Advisor and Executive Director (1961-1986).

Roman Procyk

Executive Director (1987-2024) and Board Member (2024- present).

Bohdan Kudryk

President of the Fund (2001-2014).

Bohdan Vitvitsky

President of the Fund since 2014.

Taras Ferencevych

Executive Director since 2024.

Before 1991

In the 1960s, the Fund raised enough money to search for a university where it could establish a chair of Ukrainian studies. Among the options under discussion were Columbia University and the University of Minnesota.

In 1967, the Scientific Council of the Fund approved Pritsak’s proposal and a large-scale fundraising campaign was launched to raise money for three departments: Ukrainian History, Ukrainian Literature, and Ukrainian Linguistics. At the time, the cost of establishing one chair at Harvard was $600,000. Thanks to the efforts of the Fund and volunteers, the required amount was raised, and three professorships were established in 1973. After that, efforts focused on raising $2 million to establish and support a Ukrainian research institute known as the Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute (HURI), which officially opened by a decision of the Harvard University Humanities Department in June 1973.

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After the successful fundraising campaign carried out by the Ukrainian Studies Chair Fund (later known as the Ukrainian Studies Fund (USF) — led by Stephan Chemych and largely supported by the Ukrainian diaspora community—met the financial requirements of Harvard to endow a chair, Ukrainian studies were officially established at the University in 1968 with the creation of the Mykhailo S. Hrushevs’ky Chair in Ukrainian History. The remaining two chairs (in literature and language) were endowed by 1973, a year that also saw the foundation of HURI.

HURI's Formal Foundation

In 1973, the Institute was formally established, creating a central point for scholarly interest in Ukraine and providing the necessary support for the chairs and scholars to conduct research and share their insights. HURI’s events programming has expanded over the years to include conferences, symposia, and special seminars for practitioners and policymakers, in addition to lectures, films, art exhibits, and other public programs.

The Institute maintains a reference library and archives. Combined with materials held in the Harvard University Library system, it is one of the largest collections of Ukrainian materials in the West, and an invaluable resource for students, faculty, associates, and fellows. The Institute’s in-house library (named the Omeljan Pritsak Memorial Library in 2007), contains reference materials, periodicals, and other basic resources available for use at the Institute.

Produced by the Institute’s publication office, the journal Harvard Ukrainian Studies was founded in 1977. Together with a series of book publications, including the Harvard Series in Ukrainian Studies and the Harvard Library of Early Ukrainian Literature, the program publishes scholarly work of the highest caliber that is sometimes too niche for larger presses. As evidenced by the monograph series, the initial focus of the publications program was on the medieval and early modern periods, philology, and comparative analyses of sources—all important for the Institute’s focus on preserving the historical and cultural roots of a suppressed Ukraine. Since Ukraine’s independence, the scope of its publications has expanded to include a broader range of disciplines, time periods, and regional comparisons. HURI’s publications program distributes its titles through Harvard University Press and co-publishes additional scholarly works with other institutes and publishers, such as Academic Studies Press.

Supporting visiting scholars and fellows is an integral part of HURI’s mission to advance research on Ukraine. Initially, this support was restricted to research fellows, associates, or visiting scholars who had obtained outside funding. Nonetheless, early scholars associated with the Institute have become leaders in the field of Ukrainian studies. In the 1970s and 1980s, HURI was able to appoint Soviet dissidents: historian Valentyn Moroz, writer and editor Nadia Svitlychna, and Volodymyr Mezentsev. Restricted by the political situation with the Soviet Union during these decades, HURI’s support for fellows and visiting scholars focused on Polish-Ukrainian studies and the experience of Jews in Ukraine.

11,000+

Individual Donors

300+

Publications Supported

Years

Endowed Chairs

100,000+

Library Acquisitions

20+

University and Institutional Partners

100+

University Endowed Funds Created

Since the declaration of Ukraine’s independence in 1991, USF has continued its mission of supporting and promoting Ukrainian studies not only in America, but also in Canada, Ukraine, and other European countries, focusing on original source studies and publications. The most obvious is the support and strengthening of the Ukrainian studies program at Columbia University. In addition, support was given to projects at the University of Toronto and the University of Alberta, as well as a historical research project of the Second World War at the Ukrainian Catholic University. USF supports the research and publications of individual scholars who write on Ukrainian topics. In particular, funding was provided to preserve the valuable archives of the Ukrainian Free Academy of Sciences in New York, ensuring access to these materials for scholars benefiting from scholarships for college students and scholarship opportunities.

As an expression of the aspirations of the Ukrainian diaspora to illuminate the Ukrainian narrative in history, culture, and literature, the Ukrainian Studies Fund is one of the most significant post-WWII diaspora organizations in North America. Through its work, the Fund has contributed to expanding education for Ukrainians and fostering scholarships and grants for students and researchers. After the death of Stepan Chemych, the president of the USF was Bohdan Kudryk (2001–2014), and since 2014, Bohdan Vytvytskyi. Roman Procyk served as the Executive Director from 1988–2024, at which point Taras Ferenсevych became the Executive Director.