Awards
- John W. Ryan Award for Distinguished Contributions to International Programs and Studies - 2021
- Fulbright Award - 2004
- Poland
Jack Bielasiak is a professor of political science and an adjunct professor of Jewish studies in the College of Arts and Sciences at IU. His research interests center around the fields of comparative politics, with a special interest in the process of democratization and in electoral and party systems. Bielasiak earned his B.A. from Brooklyn College CUNY in 1969, his M.A. from Cornell University in 1972, and his Ph.D. from Cornell in 1975. Bielasiak joined IU’s faculty in 1975 as an assistant professor in the Department of Political Science. He served as director of the Polish Studies Center from 1986 to 1991 and director of undergraduate studies for the political science department from 2007 to 2013. Bielasiak also held positions at the University of Warsaw in Poland as a visiting professor in the Institute of Political Sociology and the associate director of American studies from 1989 to 1990 as well as reoccurring visiting scholar positions at the Polish Academy of Sciences.
In 2004, Bielasiak received a Fulbright award to serve as the Fulbright Distinguished Chair in the Center for East European Studies at the University of Warsaw. He also received IU Trustees’ Teaching Awards in 2002 and 2012 as well as Pi Sigma Alpha teaching awards from the American Political Science Association. Bielasiak served as president of the Polish Studies Association from 1987 to 1991.