Panelists clockwise from top left, Vitalij Pecharsky,
Svitlana Zbarska, Nancy Brannaman and
Lesya Myroslavivn Hassall
AMES, Iowa — An upcoming event at Iowa State University will give people with personal and professional experiences in Ukraine and Russia an opportunity to share with the community.
A panel discussion will focus on the impacts that the Russian invasion of Ukraine is having on Ukrainian Americans and those who have worked in Russia.
“Personal Reflections on the War in Ukraine” will be at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 23, and available via livestream. Panelists will include ISU staff and an alumna:
Vitalij Pecharsky
Pecharsky is an Anston Marston Distinguished Professor of Engineering in the materials science and engineering department at Iowa State. He is also a faculty scientist, principal investigator, field work proposal leader and group leader at the Ames Laboratory.
He was born in Lviv, Ukraine, and graduated from the University of Lviv (today the Ivan Franko National University of Lviv) with master's and bachelor's degrees in chemistry in 1976. After earning a Ph.D. in inorganic chemistry in 1979, Pecharsky served as assistant and then associate professor of inorganic chemistry at the university until 1993. He came to Ames as a visiting scientist at Ames Lab and became a staff member in 1995. In 1998, Pecharsky became an associate professor of materials science and engineering at Iowa State, was promoted to professor in 2000, was named an Anston Marston Distinguished Professor of Engineering in 2006.
Svitlana Zbarska
Zbarska is the program coordinator for campus-wide undergraduate research with the Honors Program. She manages programs that promote research opportunities for undergraduate students across campus. Zbarska coordinates campus-wide undergraduate research programs and initiatives, such as the Undergraduate Research Ambassador Program, research seminars for undergraduate students, the First-Year Honors Mentor Program, the ISU Annual Undergraduate Symposium on Research and Creative Expression, Research in the Capitol, and the Summer REU Symposium. She teaches several pre-research courses, and runs multiple workshops and professional development seminars about involvement in undergraduate research and getting the most of of students' research experiences.
She received her Ph.D. in neuroscience from Iowa State in 2007. Zbarska was a leading scientist on several research projects in the departments of biomedical sciences and genetics and cell biology before joining the Honors Program. She is originally from Ukraine, where she received her master's degree in biophysics and bachelor's degree in physics from Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv.
Lesya Myroslavivn Hassall
Hassall is an instructional technology specialist for the Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching. She is known for her expertise in instructional technologies and digital pedagogies. Hassall leads CELT's Course Design Institute, an award-winning four-day interactive event that creates space and time for ISU instructors to design and develop quality online and blended courses.
She graduated from one of Ukraine's oldest and most prestigious universities, Nizhyn Gogol State University, with a master's degree in teching English and German as second languages. She taught at Muckachiv Technological Institute and Nizhyn Gogol State University before coming to Iowa State, where she earned her Ph.D. in curriculum and instructional technology.
Nancy Brannaman
Brannaman is an accomplished business manager and mentor who has worked in nine countries and Iowa in financial management, human resources, logistics, contracting, marketing, financial analysis and general management. She recently retired from the U.S. Department of State as a Foreign Service Officer specializing in management. Brannaman joined the Foreign Service in 2000 and served as a Consular Officer in Kyiv; Supervisory General Services Officer in Baku, Azerbaijan; HR and Financial Management Officer in Tashkent, Uzbekistan; Management, HR and Financial Management Officer in Tirana, Albania; and Management Officer in Juba, South Sudan.
In 1992-1993, Brannaman and her husband worked for the State of Iowa on a project managed by the ISU Center for Agricultural Rural Development in Kakhovka, Kherson Region, north of Crimea. They were co-managers of the U.S.-Ukraine Agribusiness Center, a joint venture that showcases Iowa and U.S. agribusiness products. She and her family landed in Ukraine about six months after the country declared its independence from the Soviet Union. In the fall of 1993, they moved to Russia and worked for Land O'Lakes on a U.S. Agency for International Development-funded project five hours southwest of Moscow, working with 600 private farmers to develop cooperatives and a farmer-member organization. She received a master's degree in agricultural economics and finance and a bachelor's degree in agricultural business and farm operation from Iowa State.
The panel is co-sponsored by the ISU Fulbright Association, Iowa Fulbright Association and the Committee on Lectures, which is funded by Student Government.
Find more information about ISU lectures online or by calling 515-294-9934.