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War and Wisdom

Weatherhead School professor is back on campus after helping to launch a university in his native Ukraine

As founding rector of American University Kyiv (AUK) in Ukraine, Roman Sheremeta enjoyed campus vibes reminiscent of Case Western Reserve University, where he's been on the faculty for more than a decade—the vibrant, attractive environment with outdoor spaces filled with students typing away at laptops and classrooms buzzing with intellectual discovery.

"One thing that would be different is the air-raid sirens," said Sheremeta, PhD, an associate professor of economics at the Weatherhead School of Management.

Sheremeta took a temporary leave from CWRU to serve in AUK's top academic post and was in his native Ukraine in February 2022 when Russia invaded. Working with Arizona State University, he recruited faculty and helped shape the founding vision for a world-class institution.

Despite the war, AUK welcomed its first cohort of 150 students that September. Today, even as the fighting continues, enrollment is up to 350 students across nine programs.

"More programs are coming online," Sheremeta said. "The hope is to reach a total of about 600 students" this fall.

During Sheremeta's tenure at AUK, which formally ended earlier this year, the university faced myriad wartime challenges. Classroom attendance was spotty if students were in a subway station that doubled as a bomb shelter while the air-raid siren was on. When Russian missiles hit electrical grids, short outages ensued until diesel-fueled generators switched on, while attacks on internet networks made online access on campus erratic.

Despite all that and more, Sheremeta said, a resilient AUK increased its program offerings on campus and built a dual-degree program with Arizona State University that recently graduated 32 students.

He said the university also launched a startup accelerator program in collaboration with a venture-capital fund to foster Ukraine's information-technology sector and played a key role in organizing forums—both locally and in the United States—to rebuild the country and attract foreign investment.

AUK's broader role brought Sheremeta into regular contact with local and national government leaders in Ukraine.

Now back on Case Western Reserve's campus, he brings this inside view of wartime Ukraine into his course "Game Theory: The Economics of Thinking Strategically."

"When students listen to me talk about conflict resolution and negotiations, they know that this is a guy who was on the economic board of advisors to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky," he said.

Sheremeta no longer has an operational role with AUK, but he plans to support the university for the rest of his life, talking to prospective AUK students, giving talks and fundraising for student scholarships.

"Our academic system in the United States has been a backbone for innovation, for development of our leaders, for the growth of our economy," Sheremeta said. "And I am happy that we can have a little bit of that influence in Ukraine."

— DAN MORRELL