Stanford’s Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law (CDDRL) is pleased to welcome Sviatoslav Vakarchuk as a visiting scholar for the fall quarter. Vakarchuk is a Ukrainian civic activist, musician and the lead vocalist and founder of the band “Okean Elzy.“ He will be in residence at CDDRL this fall to attend courses and study with some of the leading intellectuals and academics at CDDRL. He holds a doctorate degree in theoretical physics from the Ivan Franko National University of Lviv.

Vakarchuk is also the founder of a charity fund called “Lyudi Maybutnyogo” (People of the Future) and co-founder of the Center for Economic Strategy, an independent policy think tank dedicated to supporting reforms and sustainable economic growth in Ukraine. He served as a Yale World Fellow in 2015.

Vakarchuk will be interacting with the Ukrainian Emerging Leaders Program during his residency at CDDRL. Launched in 2016, the Program seeks to provide Ukrainian leaders with opportunities for professional growth and development, as well as the chance to work on a project over the course of a 10-month residency at Stanford.

“We look forward to welcoming Slava Vakarchuk to the CDDRL community this fall,” said Francis Fukuyama the Mosbacher director of CDDRL. “His presence will add a great deal towards our understanding of Ukraine's democratic transition.”

During his stay in the US, Vakarchuk will be offering a set of open lectures on Ukraine and participating in several events at CDDRL. More information on these public events will be forthcoming.