Executive Directors of the Institute

Of the eleven past Executive Directors, Waclaw Jedrzejewicz served twice, and was in addition one of the Founders of the Institute and its President; a unique record of a man who for nearly fifty years was the spiritus movens of the Institute. Jan Fryling and Stanislaw Jordanowski served the Institute as Presidents and Executive Directors. Their biographies can be found in the Founders and Presidents sections. Three former Executive Directors, Czeslaw Karkowski, Jerzy Prus and Janusz Cisek are alive and their biographies are still a work in progress.

Executive Directors of great distinction who have passed on: Damian Wandycz, Marian Chodacki, Gen.Wincenty Kowalski and Michal Budny. Other biographies are in preparation.

1943 – 1948	-	Wacław Jędrzejewicz
1949 – 1951	-	Marian Chodacki
1951 – 1956	-	Damian Wandycz
1956 – 1963	-	Wincenty Kowalski
1963 – 1964	-	Wacław Jędrzejewicz
1964 – 1972	-	Jan Fryling
1973 – 1983	-	Michał Budny
1984 – 1985	-	Stanisław Jordanowski
1986 – 1988	-	Czesław Karkowski
1989 – 1991	-	Jerzy Prus
1992 – 2000	-	Janusz Cisek
2005 –	-	Iwona Drąg Korga

Damian Stanisław Wandycz

Executive Director 1951-1956.

Chemical engineer. Born January 2, 1982 in Dobrzyń. Studied at Politechnic School in Prague and Lwów. In World War I fought in the First Brigade of Polish Legions. In 1918 member of a diplomatic mission to Czechoslovakia. Employed in gas and petroleum industries , since 1933 director of the consortium Polski Eksport Naftowy During World War II with Polish government-in-exile in Romania. France and Britain. Sent to Washington, DC to negotiate a postwar reconstruction loan, after the Communist takeover remained in emigration in the US. Director of PIASA 1965-1969 and initiator of congresses of Polish scholars.
Decorated with, among others, the Cross of the First Brigade, Independence Cross, Polonia Restituta, and Golden Cross of Merit. Author of several publications in Polish and English.

Marian Chodacki
Executive Director, 1949-1951.

Born in Nowy Sacz on July 15, 1898. Major in the Polish Army.
Graduated from the War College in 1924. Acting military attaché in Finland. In 1932 he joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as Political Counselor. Four years later he became Commissioner General of the Polish Republic in the city of Gdansk and served with great distinction and courage until the beginning of the war with Germany in September 1939. During World War II he served in the Polish Army in Britain until his transfer to the Polish Consulate in New York, where after September 1, 1943 he was the Chief of the independent intelligence cell "Estezet." Among his decorations are the Virtuti Militari, Independence Cross and three Crosses of Valor as well as the French Legion d’Honneur. He died in July 1975.

Wincenty Kowalski

Executive Director, 1956-1963.

Born in Warsaw on October 10, 1892. General in the Polish Army.
Graduate of the Polytechnic of Glons-Liege in Belgium, he served in a Polish secret military organization from 1912 to 1914 when he joined the Polish Legion, in the First Cadre Company. In the September 1939 campaign he commanded the First Legionary Division based in Wilno. During 1945-1946, he served in the Polish forces in Paris and London before settling in the United States. He served as Chairman of the Polish Combatants’ Association, the Mutual Aid Society and as member of the Polish Veterans’ Association. Holder of the Virtuti Militari orders, silver and gold, Polonia Restituta, four Crosses of Valor and the Golden Cross of Merit. He died on November 29, 1984.

Michał Budny

Executive Director, 1973-1983.

Born in Kielce in 1907. A diplomat.
Completed his legal studies at the University of Warsaw. During the years 1935-1945, he was the Polish Embassy Secretary, first in Washington, D.C. and then in London. For over twenty years he worked for the International Federation of Airlines (IATA) in New York and Montreal, as director of department of travel agencies. Author of "Light-hearted Memoirs," he also wrote many articles for Polish and foreign publications. He died in 1995.