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Dr. Wolodymyr Stojko, professor emeritus of history and former director of Eastern European studies Wolodymyr Stojko, professor emeritus of history and former director of Eastern European studies at Manhattan College, died on May 4, 2006. He was 79. A dedicated professor beloved by faculty and students alike, Stojko’s teaching career at Manhattan College spanned 30 years. He accepted a position at the College in 1963 as history instructor. He was later promoted to professor and director and expanded his department’s course offerings in Eastern European and Russian history. He taught classes such as Russia in Asia, The Cold War and After, and Russian Intellectual History. Dr. Frederick Schweitzer, professor emeritus of history and director of the Holocaust Resource Center, remembers Stojko as a wonderful colleague and a popular professor who was admired by his students. “He taught us, me at least, that our grasp of European history was defective and incomplete unless it included the vast areas east of the Oder River,” Schweitzer says. “This was ratified for that generation of students by his leadership as the director of Eastern European studies.” The Oder is the second longest river in Poland. It starts in the Czech Republic and flows through Poland, forming the northern boundary between Germany and Poland. Visiting assistant professor Joseph Castora ’68 is one such student who took Stojko’s Russian history course and later became his co-worker in the College’s history department.
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Stojko often taught four distinct classes per term to give students a variety of course choices. He also commuted nearly two hours to work on public transportation from his home in New Brunswick, N.J. “He had an extraordinary workload from semester to semester,” says George Kirsch, professor of history, who remembers his former colleague as “bright, dedicated and someone who went out of his way to make me feel comfortable.” In addition to his work at Manhattan College, Stojko edited the Ukrainian Quarterly for more than 10 years. This publication is the only English language academic journal with a focus on Ukraine. Stojko was also president of the Ukrainian Free University Foundation. Originated in Prague and now based in Munich, the Ukrainian Free University was created as an underground institution when Ukraine was colonized. The foundation supports the university and also provides grants for native Ukrainian academicians to publish their work.
In the United States, Stojko settled in New York City. He attended City College of New York, where he earned his B.A. and later attended NYU for his Ph.D. He went on to accept an instructor position at Dutchess Community College in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. Roksolana Stojko-Lozynskyj fondly remembers her father as an idealist, a romantic by the 19th century definition, and a generous and kind gentleman.
Stojko retired from Manhattan College in 1993 and won a Fulbright scholarship to return to Ukraine to research and teach for one year. Born in Ukraine and partly schooled in Salzburg, Austria, Stojko came to the United States in 1949 as a displaced
Stojko is survived by his wife, Myroslava; his daughters Oksana and Roksolana; and his grandchildren.
In Memoriam
Richard L. DeJulio, 2/2/06 Frank J. Ruotolo, 5/16/03 Daniel B. Sullivan, 12/3/05
1967
William J. Ghent, 1/16/06 Sister Mary Kateri Hudson, 5/3/06
1963
John J. Barrett Jr., 7/3/06 Edward R. Marzec, 5/26/06
1968
Sister Barbara Berbusse, 6/2/03
1969
M. Thomasina Doran, 3/23/06 Michael J. Sweeney, 6/17/06
1970
Sister Maria B. Conlin, 5/24/05 William G. Salomone, 4/12/06
1973
Thomas J. Duffy, 5/17/04
1974
Martin J. Marano, 3/30/06
Peter Gaffney, 3/24/06 Carl Gisolfi, 6/3/00
1965
Robert Lesnick, 6/16/06
1966
Paul F. Fryer, 2/8/06 Matthew Kissane, 9/17/99
manhattan.edu
person. Before his arrival in New York, Stojko resisted German occupation in his native Ukraine, was captured and mistreated by Nazi officials and worked as a slave laborer in Austria until the end of World War II.
“What needs to be underscored about my father is his absolute dedication to integrity in all aspects of his life whether in scholarly life, personal life or his sense of duty to the community,” Stojko-Lozynskyj says. “He was a truly remarkable man.”
1962
1964
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“The example of his teaching was inspiring,” Castora says. “He was always very helpful to younger professors. His favorite phrase of encouragement was ‘keep punching.’”
1975
Madeline B. Schwarz, 10/27/99 Harold Seymour, 7/12/01
1976
Anthony Jablonski, 8/6/06
1979
Paul Alesio, 2/20/06 M. Josephine Cole, 2/10/06
1982
Mary E. Lynch, Ph.D., 7/30/06
1984
Michael P. Kislow, 2/3/06
1998
Thomas F. Sheridan, 6/3/06
2001
Christian Milin, 7/4/06