Media, History, and Education - Three Ways to Ukrainian Independence

Dr Serhiy Kvit was in 2007-2014 and has been since 2022 the President of the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, Ukraine’s oldest higher education institution. He is Professor at the Mohyla School of Journalism, which he founded in 2001 and where he headed its Media Reform Centre promoting open debate and transparent journalism. Kvit was born at Uzhhorod in 1965, grew up in Lviv, and studied journalism at Kyiv in 1986–1991. He obtained doctoral degrees at the Ukrainian Free University of Munich and at National Shevchenko University of Kyiv. Kvit held visiting fellowships at Ohio State University, Stanford University, Washington’s Wilson Center, and the University of Cologne. In 2005–2010, he was Chairman of Ukraine’s Consortium of University Autonomy. In 2014–2016, Kvit was Minister of Education and Science of Ukraine and initiated, among others, the adoption of two key reform laws “On Higher Education” and “On Scientific and Scientific-Technical Activity.” In 2019–2022, he headed the National Agency for Higher Education Quality Assurance of Ukraine. Kvit is the author and editor of several books as well as of numerous articles published by, among others, the website University World News.

Diane Francis is a Non-Resident Senior Fellow of the Atlantic Council at Washington, DC, Distinguished Professor at Toronto Metropolitan University, and Editor-at-Large of the newspaper National Post. In 2019, she received the Friend of Ukraine Tryzub (Trident) Award of The Myhal Family Foundation at Toronto.