Roman Petryshyn, O.C.
BIO
W.Roman Petryshyn has provided leadership intended both to diversify the types of organizations in the Ukrainian community and to better Canadian society . Together with community partners he was a founder of : the Ontario and Alberta provincial councils of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress; the Alberta Council of the Ukrainian Arts; the Edmonton branch of the Ukrainian Canadian Social Services; the Hromada Housing Co-operative ; the Ukrainian Foundation for College Education; the Canada Ukraine Foundation; the Canada-Ukraine Alliance for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Persons and . the Ukrainian Resource and Development Centre at MacEwan University.
He has served as President of the Shevchenko Foundation, Vice-President of the Canada Ukraine Foundation, been a Board member nationally and in Alberta of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress, and Director of the Ukrainian Resource and Development Centre at MacEwan University.
Roman Petryshyn holds a Ph.D. in Sociology of Race and Ethnic Relations from the University of Bristol, England and a Diploma in Social Sciences from the University of Birmingham, as well as a Masters and Bachelor degree in Clinical Psychology from Lakehead University. He has worked as a Research Associate in the Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies, University of Alberta, and with the Governments of Ontario (Citizenship Branch) and Alberta (Cultural Heritage) where he was engaged in multicultural programming.
At MacEwan College (now University), Dr. W. Roman Petryshyn conceived and founded three permanent organizations and facilitated the establishment of four Ukrainian endowment funds totaling over seven million dollars. He has developed a a series of international projects, activities ,as well as faculty and student exchange programs linking MacEwan and partner Universities in Eastern Europe. He arranged for MacEwan executive officers to sign inter-university agreements in Ukraine and Russia with the : International Institute of Business; Ivan Franko National University in Lviv; National University of Kyiv Mohyla Academy; and Ternopil State Medical University.
He also conceived and actively carried out plans at MacEwan for a dozen international technical assistance projects. Beginning in 1991 with the independence of Ukraine,Dr. Petryshyn led and co-managed small and multi-million dollar projects on health, agro-business, nursing, deafness, inclusive education and higher education. While working at MacEwan for twenty-eight years (1987 to 2015) , he developed working relations with Federal and Provincial elected and administrative officials , companies and volunteer community organizations that supported his projects .
His research and publications focus on the integration of Ukrainian minorities in Britain and Canada. He edited Changing Realities: Social Trends Among Ukrainian Canadians and has contributed articles to several published compilations and journals. Dr. Petryshyn is an International Member of the Academy of Pedagogical Sciences of Ukraine and has received the MacEwan Leadership Award, the Alberta Centennial Medal, the Queen’s Jubilee Medal and the Hetman Award of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress-Alberta Provincial Council.
On December 29, 2021 Dr. Petryshyn was appointed to the Order of Canada.
