Ukrainian professor at KU receives Fulbright Scholar-in-Residence Award

LAWRENCE — Ihor Lylo, a visiting assistant professor from Ukraine, has received the Fulbright Scholar-in-Residence Award. This will allow Lylo to continue teaching and conducting research at the University of Kansas, where he is affiliated with the Department of Slavic, German & Eurasian Studies as well as the Center for Russian, East European & Eurasian Studies. 

While at KU he has also delivered lectures for the Hall Center for the Humanities, Stand with Ukraine Kansas City, the International Relations Council of Kansas City, and the First Baptist Church and Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Lawrence.

Lylo, a historian and anthropologist from Lviv, Ukraine, specializes in European history and culture. While at KU, he has taught courses for the departments of Slavic, German & Eurasian Studies and History. In fall 2025, he will co-teach an undergraduate course, Understanding Russia and Eastern Europe, with Professor Vitaly Chernetsky and teach it independently in spring 2026.

This is Lylo’s second Fulbright award. His first experience took him to the University of California, San Diego.

“I must confess that it was at the University of Kansas that I finally found an environment of professionals, students and graduate students where I can be most useful,” said Lylo, who also praised the openness and friendliness of his colleagues and the community.

The Fulbright Scholar-in-Residence program enables U.S. colleges and universities to host international scholars for a semester or academic year to support internationalization through teaching, curriculum development, guest lectures, study-abroad partnerships and community engagement.

“We deeply appreciate Dr. Lylo’s academic contributions to the KU community and to that of Kansas and the region as a whole,” said Charles Bankart, KU’s senior internationalization officer. “The presence of international scholars in the U.S. has never been more crucial, and it is critical that we have different Ukrainian voices in our community dialogue as we seek to better understand, engage and support the world around us.”

Lylo’s previous year at KU was sponsored by several university units and the Scholars at Risk Network, an international coalition of higher education institutions dedicated to protecting scholars and promoting global academic freedom.

“I am especially grateful to the Scholars at Risk program, which enabled us to host Dr. Lylo in the first place, and to the Fulbright Scholar-in-Residence program, which will enable us to continue to benefit from Dr. Lylo’s scholarship and engagement over the course of the coming academic year,” Bankart said. “We will also work hard to ensure Dr. Lylo has opportunities to contribute to the nation’s professional associations and academic conferences in the coming months. 

“Hosting Dr. Lylo is not just a benefit accrued to the University of Kansas but to the entire United States of America,” Bankart said. “That was a guiding principle of Senator Fulbright when he created the Fulbright programs.”