Erzsebet and Zsuzsanna Ránki have established the György Ránki Scholarship in the Department of Central Eurasian Studies at Indiana University’s Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies. The gift will provide financial support to the next generation of scholars specializing in Hungarian Studies, as well as additional support for the György Ránki Hungarian Chair.

Professor Ránki’s work focused on Hungarian and Central European economic history in the 19th and 20th centuries, foreign policy and economics, aspects of the Holocaust, and World War II history. He was the first holder of the Hungarian Chair in the Department of Central Eurasian Studies, which was established in 1979 to provide IU with a visiting Hungarian scholar and to strengthen the nationwide impact on the development of Hungarian Studies.

We could not think of a better way to honor Gyorgy’s legacy at Indiana University,” said Department Chair Jamsheed Choksy.

Hamilton Lugar School Dean Lee Feinstein echoed these sentiments, adding, “The Ránki’s generous gift will further enhance the legacy of our renowned Department of Central Eurasian Studies.”

The department was founded at Indiana University in 1943 as an Army Specialized Training Program for Central Eurasian languages. The Department has long been one of the world’s leading centers of academic expertise on Central Eurasia, as well as the sole independent degree-granting academic unit staffed with its own faculty of specialists.