Casimir Dadak
Professor of Finance and Economics
Pożegnanie i dziękuję Kazimierz (Farewell and thank you, Casimir)
Iwould like to extend a heartfelt thanks and sincere best wishes to Casimir Dadak. May he enjoy a long and prosperous retirement after having spent the last 22 years of his life devoted to teaching, academic advising, and scholarly research at Hollins University. Our department and our university can only share the joy that this new chapter in his life brings to Casimir and his family.
I have known Casimir throughout the last 15 years and have noticed in his person a man of profound moral standards based on Christianity, a worldview that has led him to develop a critical vision of today’s society. His concerns over the future of the European Union and the fate of the Euro zone are intertwined with continuous reflections based on sacred scriptures and the Heavenly.
A native of Poland, Casimir’s tenure at Hollins began in Spring Term 2000 as visa arrangements were stalled during late spring and summer of 1999, preventing Casimir, his wife, Ania, and children, Vojtech and Christopher, from joining our Hollins community until the beginning of the 1999-2000 academic year. Casimir, who completed his Ph.D. in economics with a concentration in finance from Fordham University, taught undergraduate courses in finance and applied macroeconomics. Among the multiple contributions he willed to Hollins, Casimir helped spearhead changes in our business major by introducing courses in international business and international finance—areas he is most familiar with, given his research expertise. A year or two before the turn of the century, and the new millennium, Hollins introduced its business major. Gradually, Casimir’s contributions led to a more robust business curriculum. Over the past 22 years, Casimir served, with aplomb and distinction, as department chair and was elected by his colleagues to serve as faculty representative on several standing committees.
A fan of European league soccer, Casimir has a long and distinctive scholarly trajectory. He is the author of seven book chapters and over 40 peer-reviewed journal articles in prestigious journals, including The Journal of Economic Issues and East European Review, among others. Casimir’s research interests cover the economic transformation of east-central Europe, European economic integration, economic development of east-central Europe, and the economics and politics in the former Soviet Bloc. His scholarship is also patent in non-academic publications, including regular news article contributions in Dziennik Polski and Idziemy, two widely read Polish newspapers.
Students will miss Casimir’s wit, unforgiving exams, and oral presentations based on final team projects!
In closing, I dedicate the following poem by Irish poet William Butler Yeats to Casimir, who enjoys nature and shares the firm belief that nature’s cherished power fortifies body, mind, and soul. All best wishes, Casimir.
“The Lake Isle of Innisfree”
By William Butler Yeats
I will arise and go now,
and go to Innisfree,
And a small cabin build there,
of clay and wattles made;
Nine bean-rows will I have there,
a hive for the honey-bee,
And live alone in the bee-loud glade.
And I shall have some peace there,
for peace comes dropping slow,
Dropping from the veils of the morning
to where the cricket sings;
There midnight’s all a glimmer,
and noon a purple glow,
And evening full of the linnet’s wings.
I will arise and go now,
for always night and day
I hear lake water lapping with low
sounds by the shore;
While I stand on the roadway,
or on the pavements grey,
I hear it in the deep heart’s core.