Dr. Jason Booza
Board of Directors, Fellows
Dr. Jason Booza is a demographer, researcher and author who currently serves on the faculty of Wayne State University’s Department of Geography and Urban Planning. Dr. Booza is also the interim director of the Department’s Michigan Metropolitan Information Center. He has also been the evaluator for the DFC grant which the Piast Institute has been awarded.
Dr. Booza’s research topics include Polonia in America, recent immigration trends, racial and ethnic integration in metropolitan neighborhoods, mixed-income/mixed-race communities, low income households in mixed-income neighborhoods, crime and safety, poverty in the U.S., population and population density, among other topics. His research has been funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Ford Foundation, the Brookings Institute and the Michigan Non-Profit Research Center.
Dr. Booza’s research topics include Polonia in America, recent immigration trends, racial and ethnic integration in metropolitan neighborhoods, mixed-income/mixed-race communities, low income households in mixed-income neighborhoods, crime and safety, poverty in the U.S., population and population density, among other topics. His research has been funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Ford Foundation, the Brookings Institute and the Michigan Non-Profit Research Center.
Francine Foote
Chair, Dekaban Advisory Board
Francine Foote, B.A., M.S., has been a senior researcher with the Piast Institute since 2016. Her ties to the Piast Institute are inextricably linked on personal and professional levels. She is the sister of the late Dr. Thaddeus C. Radzilowski, co-founder with Virginia Skrzyniarz of the Piast Institute. Ms. Foote started out as a volunteer at Piast in 2014. According to Malgorzata Tulecki, Executive Director at Piast Institute, said, “Fran is a grants writer who is an essential member of our team.” She continued to say that her desire to volunteer stemmed from extra time she had and in wanting to get to know her brother, Thaddeus, better since there was a significant disparity in their age difference.
The researcher has brought a wealth of grant writing expertise and worked on many grants for the Piast Institute, which she previously employed for the departments of Ferndale Adult and Community Education. With her experience for Ferndale, she accrued more than 31 years of experience in marketing, community education, business training, and adult and alternative education. From 1978 to 2010, Ms. Foote held various director positions for the Ferndale Public Schools.
She holds a master’s degree in Education from Wayne State University along with a bachelor’s degree in Liberal Arts with a focus on psychology, also from Wayne State.
Currently, in addition to her extensive grant writing, writing of press releases and other writing duties for the Piast Institute, Ms. Foote is the chair of the Dekaban Program and a member of its program advisory council. Dr. Anatole and Mrs. Pamela Dekaban initiated the gift of the Dekaban Fund, which was established in 1993. The overarching motivation for the Dekaban Program is to create opportunities for the exchange of technical knowledge between faculty members in various fields of engineering at the Warsaw University of Technology (WUT) In Poland and the University of Michigan (U-M) College of Engineering (CoE) in Ann Arbor. This is facilitated, in part, by sponsorship of fellowships for junior faculty members from WUT visiting the U-M College of Engineering. The Piast Institute oversees the Dekaban Exchange Programs with Ms. Foote maintaining communications with schools and communities.
In honor of Dr. Anatole and Pamela Liddle Dekaban, the Piast Institute additionally sponsors the annual Dekaban Lecture, which has featured such distinguished speakers as Dr. Zbigniew Brzezinski. Ms. Foote has also arranged several of these lectures. Dr. Dekaban, a veteran of the Polish Underground, became a world-renowned scientist at the National Institute of Health. He is considered the founder of pediatric neurology in the world.
Apart from her work for the Piast Institute, Ms. Foote is actively involved in her parish, Our Mother of Perpetual Help Parish, with volunteer activities on the pastoral council, finance council and many other groups, and committees like the Kiwanis.
The researcher has brought a wealth of grant writing expertise and worked on many grants for the Piast Institute, which she previously employed for the departments of Ferndale Adult and Community Education. With her experience for Ferndale, she accrued more than 31 years of experience in marketing, community education, business training, and adult and alternative education. From 1978 to 2010, Ms. Foote held various director positions for the Ferndale Public Schools.
She holds a master’s degree in Education from Wayne State University along with a bachelor’s degree in Liberal Arts with a focus on psychology, also from Wayne State.
Currently, in addition to her extensive grant writing, writing of press releases and other writing duties for the Piast Institute, Ms. Foote is the chair of the Dekaban Program and a member of its program advisory council. Dr. Anatole and Mrs. Pamela Dekaban initiated the gift of the Dekaban Fund, which was established in 1993. The overarching motivation for the Dekaban Program is to create opportunities for the exchange of technical knowledge between faculty members in various fields of engineering at the Warsaw University of Technology (WUT) In Poland and the University of Michigan (U-M) College of Engineering (CoE) in Ann Arbor. This is facilitated, in part, by sponsorship of fellowships for junior faculty members from WUT visiting the U-M College of Engineering. The Piast Institute oversees the Dekaban Exchange Programs with Ms. Foote maintaining communications with schools and communities.
In honor of Dr. Anatole and Pamela Liddle Dekaban, the Piast Institute additionally sponsors the annual Dekaban Lecture, which has featured such distinguished speakers as Dr. Zbigniew Brzezinski. Ms. Foote has also arranged several of these lectures. Dr. Dekaban, a veteran of the Polish Underground, became a world-renowned scientist at the National Institute of Health. He is considered the founder of pediatric neurology in the world.
Apart from her work for the Piast Institute, Ms. Foote is actively involved in her parish, Our Mother of Perpetual Help Parish, with volunteer activities on the pastoral council, finance council and many other groups, and committees like the Kiwanis.
Father Andrew Kowalczyk
Board of Directors
Father Andrew Kowalczyk, CSMA is the pastor at St. Clare of Montefalco Parish, in Grosse Pointe Park, MI. He is a member of the Congregation of St. Michael the Archangel (Michaelite Fathers). He also serves as the Superior of the North American Vice Province.
Whether in Canada or the United States, Fr. Andrew is involved interested and promotes awareness and respect for Poland's rich history heritage and the contribution of its’ people to the culture of these two countries and the world.
Whether in Canada or the United States, Fr. Andrew is involved interested and promotes awareness and respect for Poland's rich history heritage and the contribution of its’ people to the culture of these two countries and the world.
Dr. John Kromkowski
Board of Directors, Fellows
Dr. John Kromkowski is an author and historian. He is a professor at Catholic University, a dean for the College of Arts & Sciences and serves as the undergraduate program coordinator for the Department of Politics. He also is the current president of the National Center for Urban and Ethnic Affairs.
Dr. Kromkowski has written and edited various publications in the field of urban and ethnic politics, including his award-winning study, Juvenile Crime and Neighborhood Deteriorization. Dr. Kromkowski is also the author of Race & Ethnic Relations, an annually published collection of articles from the best of the public press. Race & Ethnic Relations is currently on its fifteenth edition and is published by McGraw-Hill/Dushkin.
Dr. Kromkowski has written and edited various publications in the field of urban and ethnic politics, including his award-winning study, Juvenile Crime and Neighborhood Deteriorization. Dr. Kromkowski is also the author of Race & Ethnic Relations, an annually published collection of articles from the best of the public press. Race & Ethnic Relations is currently on its fifteenth edition and is published by McGraw-Hill/Dushkin.
Zofia Sylwanowicz Ładak
Board of Directors
Zosia, a retired librarian for the city of Warren, was born in London and raised in Flint, Michigan. Her parents were among the many Poles forcibly taken to Russia in 1940, during the early part of World War II. Leaving the Soviet Union later in the war, they joined the Polish army in exile in the Middle East and ended up in England before coming to America.
Zosia earned a Humanities degree from Michigan State University and a Master of Library Science from Wayne State University.
She has been active in Detroit’s Polish scouting organization since grade school and continues to serve as a senior scouting instructor and advisor. For over 30 years she was instrumental in setting up and helping to run summer camp (or “akcja letnia”) for Polish brownies and girl scouts at Białowieża Camp in Michigan’s Thumb area.
For more than 20 years she was a member of the board of directors of the PAC Federal Credit Union (formerly the Polish American Congress Federal Credit Union), serving terms as board chairman, vice-chairman, secretary and membership officer. She was also an active member of the Friends of the Warren Library, having served as president, vice president and secretary, and was recently appointed by the mayor of Warren to the Warren Library Commission. She is a member of the Warren Library Commission, appointed by the city's mayor.
Zosia earned a Humanities degree from Michigan State University and a Master of Library Science from Wayne State University.
She has been active in Detroit’s Polish scouting organization since grade school and continues to serve as a senior scouting instructor and advisor. For over 30 years she was instrumental in setting up and helping to run summer camp (or “akcja letnia”) for Polish brownies and girl scouts at Białowieża Camp in Michigan’s Thumb area.
For more than 20 years she was a member of the board of directors of the PAC Federal Credit Union (formerly the Polish American Congress Federal Credit Union), serving terms as board chairman, vice-chairman, secretary and membership officer. She was also an active member of the Friends of the Warren Library, having served as president, vice president and secretary, and was recently appointed by the mayor of Warren to the Warren Library Commission. She is a member of the Warren Library Commission, appointed by the city's mayor.
Dr. John Radzilowski
Board of Directors
Dr. John Radzilowski is a historian and is the author of numerous books and articles on topics ranging from Polish and East Central European history to the history of Polish and East European diasporas, to contemporary social, cultural, and economic problems in the U.S. and Poland. In 1998, the President of Poland presented Dr. Radzilowski with the Cavaliers Cross of the Polish Order of Merit for distinguished contributions to the dissemination of Polish culture in the world.
Dr. Radzilowski is the Piast Institute’s Senior Fellow and coordinates its Fellows program. In addition to his involvement with the Piast Institute, Dr. Radzilowski serves as the assistant coordinator of the Center for Nations in Transition, a program at the Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota. Dr. Radzilowski is also the president of the Polish American Cultural Institute of Minnesota.
Dr. Radzilowski has won numerous awards for his work, including twice receiving recognition by the Polish American Historical Association.
Dr. Radzilowski is the Piast Institute’s Senior Fellow and coordinates its Fellows program. In addition to his involvement with the Piast Institute, Dr. Radzilowski serves as the assistant coordinator of the Center for Nations in Transition, a program at the Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota. Dr. Radzilowski is also the president of the Polish American Cultural Institute of Minnesota.
Dr. Radzilowski has won numerous awards for his work, including twice receiving recognition by the Polish American Historical Association.
Konrad Salaber
Board of Directors
Mr. Konrad Salaber is a Principal with Wind Point Partners, a Chicago-based private equity firm. Prior to Wind Point, Mr. Salaber was an analyst with A.G. Edwards, where he worked in the consumer-industrial group focusing on mergers & acquisitions.
Mr. Salaber holds an MBA with concentrations in Economics and Strategic Management from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, where he studied as a Canfield Fellow. Mr. Salaber graduated with honors from Washington University in St. Louis, receiving a BA in English and a BSBA in Finance and Accounting.
In addition to serving on the Piast Institute Board, Mr. Salaber is also involved in the development of Piast’s strategy, operations and programming.
Mr. Salaber holds an MBA with concentrations in Economics and Strategic Management from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, where he studied as a Canfield Fellow. Mr. Salaber graduated with honors from Washington University in St. Louis, receiving a BA in English and a BSBA in Finance and Accounting.
In addition to serving on the Piast Institute Board, Mr. Salaber is also involved in the development of Piast’s strategy, operations and programming.
Virginia L. Skrzyniarz
Piast CEO, Board of Directors, Dekaban Advisory Board
Ms. Virginia Skrzyniarz, CEO and co-founder of the Piast Institute, has more than thirty years of experience in managing non-profit organizations. She has served as an executive-level administrator, has directed various development projects and events and has been involved in a number of organizations as a chair or board member.
Prior to co-founding the Piast Institute, Ms. Skrzyniarz was Vice President of Administrative Affairs at St. Mary’s College. Ms. Skrzyniarz has also served as Executive Director for Hope Network Southeast and Administrative Director for Alternative Community Living, Inc. Ms. Skrzyniarz is a graduate of the Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America (CADCA) Academy. She has been a Certified Prevention Specialist (CPS) since 2015 and an International Certified Prevention Specialist (ICPS) since 2018. Ms. Skrzyniarz has been a licensed nurse in Michigan since 1973.
Ms. Skrzyniarz is the recipient of a number of awards including 2017 Michigan Non-Profit Organization of the Year, the Special Achievement Award for Lifetime Mental Health Service, the Provider Recognition Award for Service Excellence and the Longevity Award from Hope Network. In 2013, the President of Poland, Bronisław Komorowski, awarded Ms. Skrzyniarz the Cavaliers Cross of the Polish Order of Merit for her many years of work dedicated to the promotion of Polish culture and service to the Polish American community at national and local levels.
Prior to co-founding the Piast Institute, Ms. Skrzyniarz was Vice President of Administrative Affairs at St. Mary’s College. Ms. Skrzyniarz has also served as Executive Director for Hope Network Southeast and Administrative Director for Alternative Community Living, Inc. Ms. Skrzyniarz is a graduate of the Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America (CADCA) Academy. She has been a Certified Prevention Specialist (CPS) since 2015 and an International Certified Prevention Specialist (ICPS) since 2018. Ms. Skrzyniarz has been a licensed nurse in Michigan since 1973.
Ms. Skrzyniarz is the recipient of a number of awards including 2017 Michigan Non-Profit Organization of the Year, the Special Achievement Award for Lifetime Mental Health Service, the Provider Recognition Award for Service Excellence and the Longevity Award from Hope Network. In 2013, the President of Poland, Bronisław Komorowski, awarded Ms. Skrzyniarz the Cavaliers Cross of the Polish Order of Merit for her many years of work dedicated to the promotion of Polish culture and service to the Polish American community at national and local levels.
Dr. Karen Majewski
Dekaban, Fellows, Dekaban Advisory Board
Dr. Karen Majewski is a scholar, researcher and community activist. After serving as president/Mayor Pro Tem of the Hamtramck, MI City Council since 2003, Dr. Majewski was elected the city’s first female mayor in 2005. Since 1998, Dr. Majewski has served as Executive Director of the Polish American Historical Association, a world-wide organization dedicated to the study of Polish immigrant and ethnic history and culture in America.
For the past ten years, Dr. Majewski has promoted Polish and Polish American studies through her work at the Orchard Lake Schools, which includes St. Mary's College, St. Mary's Prep, and SS. Cyril and Methodius Seminary. Formerly Associate Professor of Polish and East Central European Studies, she is currently curator of the Polish and Rare Books Collection.
Dr. Majewski frequently publishes articles and gives lectures in the U.S. and in Poland. In 2001, she served as researcher for the popular exhibit, “The Polish Presence in Detroit,” at the Detroit Historical Museum. In 2003 she published Traitors and True Poles: Narrating a Polish-American Identity, 1880-1939 through Ohio University Press.
For the past ten years, Dr. Majewski has promoted Polish and Polish American studies through her work at the Orchard Lake Schools, which includes St. Mary's College, St. Mary's Prep, and SS. Cyril and Methodius Seminary. Formerly Associate Professor of Polish and East Central European Studies, she is currently curator of the Polish and Rare Books Collection.
Dr. Majewski frequently publishes articles and gives lectures in the U.S. and in Poland. In 2001, she served as researcher for the popular exhibit, “The Polish Presence in Detroit,” at the Detroit Historical Museum. In 2003 she published Traitors and True Poles: Narrating a Polish-American Identity, 1880-1939 through Ohio University Press.
Yvonne Merritt (Bankowski)
Board of Directors, Dekaban Advisory Board
Mrs. Yvonne Merritt has been employed at Ford Motor Company since 1999 as a Materials Engineer. She is currently working in the Body Interior Department in the Product Development division where she strategizes polymer materials and develops test plans for usage throughout the vehicle interior.
Yvonne is currently finishing up a term a Chairperson of the Society of Plastics Engineers Automotive Division and has served as Treasurer, Vice-Chair and Chair Elect since 2009. She has served on the board of the American Polish Engineering Association since 2002 and has been a lifelong member of the Polish Scouting Organization. She has served on the Dekaban Board since 2007.
Mrs. Merritt received her Bachelor of Science degree in 1998 and a Master of Science in 1999, both in Chemical Engineering from Wayne State University.
She is married to Lee Merritt and have two sons together.
Yvonne is currently finishing up a term a Chairperson of the Society of Plastics Engineers Automotive Division and has served as Treasurer, Vice-Chair and Chair Elect since 2009. She has served on the board of the American Polish Engineering Association since 2002 and has been a lifelong member of the Polish Scouting Organization. She has served on the Dekaban Board since 2007.
Mrs. Merritt received her Bachelor of Science degree in 1998 and a Master of Science in 1999, both in Chemical Engineering from Wayne State University.
She is married to Lee Merritt and have two sons together.
Charles Chotkowski
Fellows
Charles Chotkowski has over a decade of experience in Polish-Jewish relations and Holocaust studies.
Mr. Chotkowski is a member of the executive board of the National Polish American - Jewish American Council; the Director of Research for the Holocaust Documentation Committee of the Polish American Congress; and a member of the Holocaust Studies Committee of the Kosciuszko Foundation.
A graduate of Amherst College with postgraduate studies at the University of Minnesota, Mr. Chotkowski resides in Fairfield, CT, where he is the former chair of the Town of Fairfield Holocaust Commemoration Committee.
Mr. Chotkowski is a member of the executive board of the National Polish American - Jewish American Council; the Director of Research for the Holocaust Documentation Committee of the Polish American Congress; and a member of the Holocaust Studies Committee of the Kosciuszko Foundation.
A graduate of Amherst College with postgraduate studies at the University of Minnesota, Mr. Chotkowski resides in Fairfield, CT, where he is the former chair of the Town of Fairfield Holocaust Commemoration Committee.
Dr. Ann Hetzel Gunkel
Fellows
Dr. Ann Hetzl Gunkel is Professor of Humanities and Cultural Studies at Columbia College Chicago where she specializes in Urban Cultural Studies. A former Fulbright Scholar, she has lectured at universities and museums throughout North America, Russia, Western and Eastern Europe. Her recent publications include work on urban religion, popular culture, the cultural politics of cyberspace, and a study of Polka music as an ethnic urban artform. Dr. Gunkel is a Board Member and Online Publications Editor for the Polish American Historical Association and a member of the Polish Institute of Arts & Sciences in America. Dr. Gunkel holds a Ph.D. in philosophy from DePaul University.
Dr. Gunkel is also an award-winning digital artist, multimedia designer, published author and documentary photographer. She operates polishtraditions.net, a virtual ethnographic museum, she is the founder and head designer of designbutcher.com, product designer for Scrap Girls and winning member of the 2005 PaperKuts Power Team. Her digital artworks have been exhibited at A.R.C. Gallery, Chicago and the Los Angeles Center for Digital Art (LACDA).
Dr. Gunkel is also an award-winning digital artist, multimedia designer, published author and documentary photographer. She operates polishtraditions.net, a virtual ethnographic museum, she is the founder and head designer of designbutcher.com, product designer for Scrap Girls and winning member of the 2005 PaperKuts Power Team. Her digital artworks have been exhibited at A.R.C. Gallery, Chicago and the Los Angeles Center for Digital Art (LACDA).
Dr. Dominik Stecuła
Board of Directors, Fellows
Dr. Dominik Stecuła is a political scientist who currently is a Martin Fishbein Postdoctoral Fellow at the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania, as well as the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada Postdoctoral Fellow (nonresident) at the Centre For Public Opinion and Political Representation at Simon Fraser University. Dr. Stecuła received his PhD in political science at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada.
Dr. Stecuła’s research topics include the intersection of political communication, public opinion, public policy, and science communication. His work appeared in a variety of scholarly journals, as well as popular outlets in the US, including Newsweek and The Washington Post, and in Poland, including Polityka and NaTemat. He has also studied Polonia in America as a long-time Piast Institute researcher, collaborating with Dr. Thaddeus Radzilowski on surveys of Polish Americans.
Dr. Stecuła’s research topics include the intersection of political communication, public opinion, public policy, and science communication. His work appeared in a variety of scholarly journals, as well as popular outlets in the US, including Newsweek and The Washington Post, and in Poland, including Polityka and NaTemat. He has also studied Polonia in America as a long-time Piast Institute researcher, collaborating with Dr. Thaddeus Radzilowski on surveys of Polish Americans.
Levi F. Smith, JD
Board of Directors
Levi is a commercial real estate broker at PA Commercial, LLC in Southfield, MI. He graduated from
Wayne State University Law School.
As a member of American Jewish Committee, he was an invited guest to visit Poland in 2006 by the
Polish Foreign Ministry and the Forum for Understanding among Nations. He also visited a pen pal in
1965 in Plotz, Poland.
Levi founded and chairs the Committee for An Albert Kahn permanent exhibit at The Henry Ford.
He is a mentor at Cornerstone Schools and a board member of Building Beds 4 Kids and a supporter of
FAN, Families Against Narcotics, Macomb.
Wayne State University Law School.
As a member of American Jewish Committee, he was an invited guest to visit Poland in 2006 by the
Polish Foreign Ministry and the Forum for Understanding among Nations. He also visited a pen pal in
1965 in Plotz, Poland.
Levi founded and chairs the Committee for An Albert Kahn permanent exhibit at The Henry Ford.
He is a mentor at Cornerstone Schools and a board member of Building Beds 4 Kids and a supporter of
FAN, Families Against Narcotics, Macomb.
Stella Szczesny
Board of Directors
Stella Szczesny has been an active member of the Polish community on a local and a national level. Previously serving as the President of the Polish National Alliance (PNA), Lodge 1758 and the President of Polish National Alliance, Council 122. She has also served on the Central Citizens Committee, Polish American Congress, the Friends of Polish Art, the Polish Womens Alliance / First Catholic Slovak Ladies Association.
Ms. Szczesny has been previously involved with the Piast Institute in various capacities including the Dekaban Committee, Polish Womens Hall of Fame project, and more recently on its drug free coalition, the Hamtramck Drug Free Community Coalition (HDFCC).
Stella Szczesny has received her B.A. from Madonna College in Social Science and her M.B.A. from the University of Detroit. She has also studied Education and Reading Instruction from Eastern Michigan University and Business and Accounting from Marygrove College.
Ms. Szczesny has been previously involved with the Piast Institute in various capacities including the Dekaban Committee, Polish Womens Hall of Fame project, and more recently on its drug free coalition, the Hamtramck Drug Free Community Coalition (HDFCC).
Stella Szczesny has received her B.A. from Madonna College in Social Science and her M.B.A. from the University of Detroit. She has also studied Education and Reading Instruction from Eastern Michigan University and Business and Accounting from Marygrove College.