A Discussion on Ukraine
Join us for an in person program with Ambassador Roman Popadiuk, Dr. Rosa Aloisi, and Liliya Colston as they discuss the ongoing conflict in Ukraine and the critical role of the international community. Hosted by the Raindrop Foundation and in partnership with the Fulbright Association San Antonio Chapter.
Ambassador Roman Popadiuk is a retired member of the career Senior Foreign Service. He served as the first U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine. He has written about and is frequently interviewed on issues relating to U.S.-Ukraine relations, the situation in Ukraine and other national security and global issues. He currently serves as President of the Diplomacy Center Foundation, a non-profit engaged with the State Department in building an American diplomacy museum at the State Department.
Roman began his career in the Foreign Service in 1981. He served in Mexico City from 1982-1984 where he did consular and political work and was special assistant to the ambassador. From 1989-1992, Roman served as Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy Press Secretary for Foreign Affairs under President George H.W. Bush, positions he also held toward the end of President Ronald Reagan’s administration.
He served as International Affairs Advisor and senior civilian on the staff of the Commandant of the Industrial College of the Armed Forces (Eisenhower School) from 1995-1998. Prior to serving in that capacity, Roman spent two years as a member of the faculty of the school of Area Studies at the State Department’s Foreign Service Institute. From 1999 to 2012 he served as the executive director of the George Bush Presidential Library Foundation at Texas A&M University. At Texas A&M, Roman also served as chairman of the executive committee of the China-U.S. Relations Conference, a biennial conference that examined the mutual relationship between the two countries.
Roman is Chairman of the Board of Directors of the World Affairs Councils of America. He is also Chairman of the Board of Directors of the U.S.-Ukraine Foundation. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and a senior advisor to the U.S.-Ukraine Business Council. He is the author of The Leadership of George Bush and a co-author of Privileged and Confidential: The Secret History of the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board. He has been awarded the State Department’s Meritorious and Superior Honor awards.
Roman graduated with a B.A. from Hunter College and received a Ph.D. from the Graduate School, CUNY. He and his wife Judith have four children.
Rosa Aloisi, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science where she teaches International Politics, International Law and Human Rights. As a professor, she tries to engage students in the most debatable topics about international relations and challenges them to question conventional ideas and definitions of human rights. Her main goal is to enable students to connect intellectually with the topics and emotionally with the lives and experiences of other human beings. Aloisi’s research focuses on the work of international tribunals, human rights institutions, and the evolution of international criminal law. Her scholarship is published in Judicature, International Criminal Law Review and Journal of Conflict Resolution. Her current research investigates the role that international judges play in the development of international criminal law and the impact that United Nations Special Procedures have on countries human rights ratings.
Liliya Colston is the co-founder of the Ukrainian Society of San Antonio, a cultural organization which provides community and friendship for Ukrainians of birth and interest. With the Society, Liliya organizes numerous cultural and educational events centered on celebrating Ukrainian history, culture, and the Ukrainian-Texan diaspora. She is the founder of Art Time Party, a children's educational art program aimed to develop young artists' creative thinking skills. She holds a degree in Ukrainian Language and Literature from Ternopil State University. Liliya is originally from Lanivsti, Ukraine and is happily married to Bill Colston.
