Dr. Orest Popovych

     Dr. Orest Popovych was born January 8, 1933 in Lvov and arrived in the US in 1949 as a postwar refugee. He graduated from Rutgers University in 1955 and obtained his PhD from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1959. 
     In 1963 he began teaching at Brooklyn College. He is a professor emeritus of analytical chemistry at Brooklyn College of the City of New York and co-authored the book Nonaqueous Solution Chemistry. He served as the President of the Shevchenko Scientific Society, USA and is the author or editor of four books in English and one in Ukrainian. A collection of 33 of his English translations of Vasyl Makhno's Ukrainian poetry has been published as part of a bilingual book titled Thread and Selected New York Poems. 
     Popovych was awarded the 2010 Prize for Best Translations from Ukrainian into English by the American Association for Ukrainian Studies and his English translations of Vasyl Makhno's poems have appeared in Agni, International Poetry Review and Poetry International. But wait! There's more! 
    Dr. Popovych also had a remarkable career as an FIDE master. His name was frequently seen at th top of tournament crosstables in major events during the 1960s. He won the New Jersey championship in 1959, 1961, 1985, and 2001 and authored a chess book featuring games by former champions of the Ukrainian Sports Federation of the USA and Canada. He was inducted into the Ukrainian Sports Federation Hall of Fame in 2016. He won the 1984 Atlantic Open and the championship of the Ukrainian Sports Federation five times. He earned his Master title in 1957 and in 1972 he was a Senior Master and ranked number 13 in the country. In 1972 he participated in the US Championship, but did not do well, scoring +0 -9 =4, and finishing in last place.