Launch of SSEES Centenary and welcoming new SSEES Director Professor Jan Kubik

The centenary year of SSEES was launched at a reception on 14 January by UCL President and Provost, Professor Michael Arthur. 

The Provost congratulated SSEES on its many achievements since the inaugural lecture in 1915 delivered by Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk, the first President of Czechoslovakia.

The Provost also welcomed the new SSEES Director, Professor Jan Kubik, who in his response presented his understanding of SSEES’s tradition and outlined his vision for the future. He noted that the school was created as a response to an urgent practical need; the need of two communities: policy makers in this country and the “revolutionaries” in East and Central Europe.  Twenty-five years ago the region underwent another revolutionary change and the School has been documenting both the change itself and its varied consequences, producing a truly remarkable body of scholarship. 

Present at the event were ambassadors of the Central and East European countries and former SSEES staff, as well as family members of the School’s founders, R W Seton-Watson and Sir Bernard Pares.  Photos of the event are available on Flickr.

SSEES will be hosting a series of events throughout the year to celebrate its 100 years.  For details see: www.ucl.ac.uk/ssees/centenary