Pylyshenko Family Endowment for International Studies

A fund established by emeriti faculty Wolodymyrn (Mirko) and Irma Pylyshenko recognizes an international graduate student annually who is studying at SUNY Brockport in either Dance or FIne Arts.

A native of the Ukraine, Mr. Pylyshenko came to the United States after World War II. He earned his bachelor of fine arts degree in 1959 and his master’s degree in fine arts in 1963, both from Rochester Institute of Technology. He joined the faculty at Brockport in 1964. For 10 years in the 1960s and 1970s, he served as department chair. He retired in 2000, and he passed away in 2021.

Throughout his academic career, Mr. Pylyshenko worked as a practicing artist. Known as a consummate print-maker, he also was recognized for his drawings and paintings. The Albright-Knox Gallery in Buffalo, the Memorial Art Gallery in Rochester, and the Philadelphia Print Show are among the venues that have featured his work. In 2017, a retrospective of his work took place at the Flower City Arts Center in Rochester.

Mrs. Pylyshenko, a native of Germany, came to the United States in 1949. She, her mother, and her siblings joined family in Michigan. She studied at Wayne State University, and, after graduating, taught in Detroit and at Wayne State, which recommended her to Brockport as a faculty member for a potential Department of Dance. In 1965, she joined the Brockport faculty in physical education, working with Rose Strasser and others to establish Brockport’s Fine Arts Division within liberal arts. The division and the Department of Dance received NYS Dept. of Education approval in 1967.

Mrs. Pylyshenko taught modern dance and performance. She choreographed many of the musical theater productions presented by the music and theater departments in the 1960s and 1970s, and she was instrumental in bringing Garth Fagan and his dance company to Brockport. She earned a master’s degree in liberal studies in 1988, and retired in 1995.

Recipients of the Pylyshenko Family Endowment for International Studies will be an accepted graduate student from either the Department of Dance of the Department of Fine Arts. The scholarship alternates between the departments.