Edward J. Rozek

ROZEK--Professor Edward J. October 13, 1918-February 19, 2009. Edward Rozek passed away at his home of natural causes on February 19, 2009. A professor of comparative governments at the University of Colorado, he was born and raised in Poland. After the country was overrun by Hitler and Stalin, he escaped via Hungary, Yugoslavia, and Italy to France. There he joined the First Polish Armored Brigade which took part in the defense of Paris. After France fell, he made his way to England. He became commander of a platoon of tanks in the 10th Reconnaissance Regiment of the First Polish Armoured Division, which fought from Normandy to northern Germany. He was wounded three times. The last time he was blinded by an anti-tank land mine and spent 10 months in English and Scottish hospitals. He received four Purple Hearts, three Crosses of Valor, four British war medals, and Polonia Restituta Officer Class and Komandoria. He ended his military career with the rank of Major. In 1948, the British Government gave him, as a former officer, a one-way ticket to anywhere in the world. He chose to take the Queen Mary to America. He arrived with no family, only $50 and a suitcase full of books. After working on a dairy farm and then a gas station to earn college tuition, he was admitted to Harvard where he earned three degrees: A.B. (magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa), A.M. and Ph.D. In 1956, he became a professor of comparative governments at the University of Colorado. He directed the Central and East European Studies Program for 25 years and was deputy editor of the Journal of Central and East European Affairs. He founded and for 34 years directed the Institute for the Study of Economic and Political Freedom. He also founded and directed from 1972 to 1999 the Center for Science and Technology, which organized numerous conferences in which several Nobel Prize winners and other distinguished scholars from American and European universities participated. He lectured at many universities and public institutions in the United States, Europe, South Korea, the Republic of China, and South Africa. Professor Rozek wrote several books. The best-known is Allied Wartime Diplomacy, for which he received the National Book Foundation Award. The American philosopher Sidney Hook dedicated his book, Academic Freedom and Academic Anarchy, as follows: "To Edward J. Rozek---Embattled fighter for free men, free society and the free university against fascism, communism and totalitarian liberalism." CU students elected him Professor of the Year and Distinguished Faculty Member. After teaching for 43 years at the University of Colorado, Professor Rozek retired in 1999. From 2000 to 2003, he held the Endowed Garnsey-Rozek Professorship in Economics and Political Freedom at the University of Northern Colorado. During the 1980 Presidential campaign, Professor Rozek was a member of Ronald Reagan's Advisory Council on Defense and Foreign Policy. He was an honorary member of the legendary Solidarity of Poland and received Knighthood in the Venerable Order of St. John, which was founded around 1100 AD. He is survived by his wife, Elizabeth; his sons, Christopher and Jonathan, and four grandchildren, Alexander, Philip, Thomas and Christina. Services were held at Sacred Heart of Mary Church in Boulder, CO on February 24. Memorial contributions can be made to the Orphanage for the Blind and the Deaf and sent to Wells Fargo Bank, PO Box 227, Boulder, CO 80306-9980.