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People PIASA remembers

In memory of Dr. Zbigniew Darzynkiewicz

We regret to inform our members that Dr. Zbigniew Darzynkiewicz passed away after a long illness on February 28, 2021. He was a world-renowned biologist, specializing in fundamental cancer research, was associated with New York Medical College, Valhalla, NY, served as a distinguished professor at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York and Cornell University, and was a Foreign Member of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw. Dr. Darzynkiewicz also authored over 800 scientific articles and many books, was an editor of several prominent journals, served as the President of international medical societies and earned a plethora of honors and awards, including The Casimir Funk Natural Sciences Award from PIASA in 2014. His ongoing, deep commitment to the Polish American community took many forms, including the key role he played in establishing the Collegium of Eminent Scientists of Polish Origin and Ancestry and many years of service as a PIASA Board Member.
Always warm and positive, Dr. Darzynkiewicz helped and supported all who had the privilege of knowing him. His legacy will be honored by all.
Dr. Darzynkiewicz is survived by his wife, Elisabeth Darzynkiewicz, M.D., two sons, Richard and Robert, and grandchildren.

In memory of Rachel Brenner

It is with deep sorrow that we mourn the passing of Professor Rachel Feldhay Brenner, a member of the PIASA Board of Directors from 2018 until February 4, 2021, the day of her death in Madison, Wisconsin. Born in Zabrze in 1946, Rachel earned advanced degrees in Israel and Canada before joining in 1992 the faculty of the Department of Hebrew and Semitic Studies at the University of Wisconsin where she had just been selected as the inaugural Temkin Professor in Hebrew language and literature. Professor Brenner specialized on the Holocaust in Hebrew, Canadian and, over the last decade, Polish literatures, the subject of her last two highly acclaimed books published by Northwestern University Press: The Ethics of Witnessing: The Holocaust in Polish Writers’ Diaries from Warsaw, 1939-1945 (2014) and Polish Literature and the Holocaust: Eyewitness Testimonies, 1942-1947 (2019). Rachel presented her research for these books at successive PIASA conferences in the United States and Poland, collegial settings where she found receptive audiences and where she established many new friendships. Beyond her academic achievements, Rachel is remembered as a teacher devoted to her students and as an inspirational mentor to a generation of young scholars. As a member of the PIASA board, Professor Brenner eagerly volunteered her valuable service for the greater benefit of the Institute, most recently in conference planning and coordination. Rachel Brenner’s legacy will live on in her award-winning scholarship and especially in the memory of those of us who had the good fortune to know her.

Photo source: www.polin.pl

In memory of Dr. Waclaw Szybalski

An internationally known authority on molecular biology, genetics and microbiology, Professor Szybalski earned his Ph.D. at the Gdansk Institute of Technology in Poland and, after moving to the US was a Professor of Oncology in the McArdle Laboratory for Cancer Research. His many contributions to medical research include Dr. Szybalski’s studies on mutagenesis and genomics. He was also among the first to formulate the concept of multi-drug antibiotic therapy. PIASA honored these accomplishments, awarding Dr. Szybalski the Casimir Funk Natural Sciences Award. He made the world a better place. May we all, in our own way, strive to do the same.

Photo source: www.lwow.home.pl