Olga Onuch (born 1982) is professor of comparative and Ukrainian politics at the

University of Manchester , mottoeng = Knowledge, Wisdom, Humanity , established = 2004 – University of Manchester Predecessor institutions: 1956 – UMIST (as university college; university 1994) 1904 – Victoria University of Manchester 1880 – Victoria Univer ...

. In 2023, she became the first person to be appointed a

full professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professors ...

Ukrainian politics The politics of Ukraine take place in a framework of a semi-presidential republic and of a multi-party system. A Cabinet of Ministers exercises executive power (jointly with the president until 1996). Legislative power is vested in Ukraine's pa ...

at a university in the English-speaking world.

Life

Onuch was born in 1982. She studied for an undergraduate degree in political science and international development studies at Queen's University, Canada, and undertook graduate study at the

London School of Economics , mottoeng = To understand the causes of things , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £240.8 million (2021) , budget = £391.1 millio ...

, planning to focus on Latin America, but as a result of the

Orange Revolution The Orange Revolution ( uk, Помаранчева революція, translit=Pomarancheva revoliutsiia) was a series of protests and political events that took place in Ukraine from late November 2004 to January 2005, in the immediate afterm ...

and her Ukrainian ancestry, she opted to study protest movements. In 2010 she gained a DPhil at the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

, with a thesis comparing processes of mass mobilisation in Argentina (2001–2002), and Ukraine (2004). After working in research roles at the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...

, the University of Oxford and

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

, Onuch began working in Manchester in 2014. Onuch's publications include the books ''Mapping Mass Mobilization: Understanding Revolutionary Moments in Argentina and Ukraine'' and ''The Zelensky Effect'', co-authored with Henry E. Hale, which considers the role of civic national Ukrainian identity and its influence on president

Volodymyr Zelensky Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Zelenskyy, ; russian: Владимир Александрович Зеленский, Vladimir Aleksandrovich Zelenskyy, (born 25 January 1978; also transliterated as Zelensky or Zelenskiy) is a Ukrainian politicia ...

, drawing extensively on Onuch's multi-year research on mass political mobilisation. Onuch is involved in the Data for Ukraine project, which uses public data from Twitter to provide geolocated event data on human displacement, humanitarian needs, civilian resistance, and human rights abuses. Onuch has said that her study is depressing but she has found the multi-cultural city of Manchester to be welcoming. She has identified the value of people who have mass-protested and she sees this behaviour as reinforcing pro-democracy views and a willingness to stay in Ukraine. She photographed the displays of Ukrainian flags in Manchester and her photos were shown on Ukrainian television. In 2023, Onuch became the first person to be appointed a full professor of

at a university in the English-speaking world.

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Onuch, Olga Academics of the University of Manchester 1982 births Living people Women political scientists British political scientists Ukrainianists