ODESSA: A SPECIAL PLACE ON EARTH

by Andrzej Rucinski

Ukraine is a big country in Eastern Europe with more than 50 million people. It is trying to survive, maintain its independence, and not be swallowed by a powerful Russian neighbor. Odessa, a town on the Black Sea, is somewhat unique since virtually all the population of this city is Russian, not Ukrainian http://odessa-ukraine.hypermart.net/about.htm. It used to be a predominantly Jewish city, but today former residents of Odessa of the Jewish origin live either in Israel or in Brighton Beach in the New York City area. As a result Odessa lost a lot: its unique culture, humor, customs, and specific language. The city is quite distinctive, very well known, and famous in the former Soviet Union. Among many architectural jewels is the Theater of Opera and Ballet, built in 1887 by architects F. Felner and H. Helmer.

My association with Odessa is simple – I always wanted to see the world, but in communist Poland choices were very limited. As a result, I decided to the dismay of my Polish friends to study in the Soviet Union and I became a student at the Odessa State Polytechnic University. It was one of the best decisions in my life I have ever made.

I typically visit Odessa once a year. One of the reasons is that I recruit Russian students to study at UNH. They are highly motivated, very well prepared academically, very polite, and, simply put, excellent. One of the Russian students, Mikhail Seledtsov has already graduated from UNH with excellent scholastic results. There are currently four graduate students from Odessa studying in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and there will be more of them coming in the near future. They are really very good ambassadors of their country and their alma mater.

Every year, I am able to meet many students, professors, and engineers interested in studying at UNH. It is really great and a very enjoyable experience to be able to practice my Russian again. My former professor, Dr. Malakchov, is currently the President of the University and a very big supporter of the relationship with UNH. The primary professional contact in Odessa is Dr. Vladimir Gieorgijevitch Brovkov who visited UNH in April of this year. As a result of his visit, a cooperation agreement between our institutions has been signed. This move would open and create opportunities for other interesting things to make our ties beneficial for both of our institutions. For example, because of the generosity of the Altera Corporation I was able to help Odessa establish a high tech program in programmable devices. So students coming to UNH from Ukraine are already trained using the same advanced technologies as our students.