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Alliance Timeline

To see all the Alliance Timeline information, simply click the year you would like to read about.

1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2013
2014
2016
2012
2013
2014
2015

September Mayor Thomas M. Whalen III and Charlotte Buchanan establish a steering committee and the City of Tula, Russia, is chosen as a sister city. Mayor Nikolay Tyaglivy of Tula eagerly accepts the hand of friendship.

January The Albany-Tula Alliance, Inc. is incorporated.

February Directed by Ray Joyce, 16,000 pounds of clothing, food and medications are airlifted from the Capital Region to Tula. Later six additional shipments go directly to organizations in Tula, such as the local hospitals.

March The first delegation from the Capital Region goes to Tula.

April The Family-to-Family program is initiated. About 200 families in the Capital Region are connected with families in Tula. Packages are shipped to Tula

July Educators from Tula arrive in Albany for a conference on education.

August A 16-year-old violinist from Tula studies with the Philadelphia Orchestra in Saratoga.

October The Alliance hosts Tulans for a Friendship Conference.

Laura Chodos mounts the first of several art shows from Tulan children. The show travels to schools, nursing homes and hospitals.

November The Friends of the Albany-Tula Alliance is established.

November Maude Baum takes EBA Dance troop to perform in Tula.

August An official delegation travels to Tula for the signing of the proclamation declaring the City of Tula and the City of Albany twins. The document is signed by Mayor Whalen and Mayor Tyaglivy.

Two students begin to study at the College of Saint Rose for their MBA degrees which they will receive in 1995. More college students from Tula will attend the University at Albany, Hudson Valley Community College and the College of Saint Rose in later years.

September The first teacher from the Capital Region goes to Tula to teach English for nine months. Many teachers and newly graduated college students will teach in Tulan universities for periods of two weeks to nine months.

April The “C” Street Jazz Ensemble of the St. Cecilia Orchestra performs in Tula.

The first of several groups of farmers travels to Tula to share farming techniques and seeds.

August Tula sends a gymnastic team, which performs in many Capital Region schools.

September The first grant is awarded to the Alliance from the US Department of Commerce’s Special American Business Intern Training Program (SABIT), which results in bringing more than 30 businessmen and women from Tula to train in local companies for periods of one to six months about doing business in a free-market economy.

October The world premier of a new work for orchestra and balalaikas, commissioned by the Albany Symphony Orchestra, is performed in Albany and Troy by the Albany Symphony Orchestra and the Yasnaya Polyana Balalaika Ensemble. For ten solid days the Balalaika Ensemble plays to thousands of students in Capital Region schools.

The Albany Symphony Orchestra and the Alliance co-sponsor the Grand Symphony Ball, at which the Consul General of Russia is honored.

December $8,000 worth of needed medications is given to Tula.

February With the help of the Alliance, USAID awards Tula a grant to begin the development of managed care within Hospital #1—a multi-year project led by Dr. Robert Chodos and Warren Paley.

April Physicians as well as specialists in information technology and insurance come from Tula to Albany for training in managed health care.

The Puppet Theatre from Tula brings the set and puppets to perform “Little Red Riding Hood” in many Capital Region Schools. The Tulan group conducts puppet-making workshops at Albany High School and gives the puppet staging and puppets for “Little Red Riding Hood” to Emma Willard School, which hosted its stay.

May A delegation from the Capital Region participates in Tula in the 50th anniversary celebration of the end of World War II. Art from students in the Capital Region is given to Tula.

October A container load of good quality used hospital beds and equipment is donated by area hospitals and nursing homes and is shipped to Tula.

November Dr. James Figge, an endocrinologist, spends time in the Tula Region studying the effects of the fallout from Chernobyl on the Tulans, which resulted in an epidemic of thyroid cancer in children and adolescents.

Another of many shipments for the Family-to-Family program—112 individual boxes, plus medical equipment—is sent to Tula.

Capital District Physicians Health Plan underwrites printing of holiday cards for sale which feature paintings by Tulan students.

January Rector Eduard Sokolov of Tula State University and Rector Nadezhda Shaidenko of the Tolstoy State Pedagogical University visit Capital Region colleges and universities.

February Tula sends a gymnastic team to participate in the international competition at Yury’s School of Gymnastics. The team performs in schools in the Capital Region.

April The junior high school class from the Maplewood School takes a trip to Tula to visit their sister school, Gymnasium No. 1.

The Jazz Ensemble of the College of Saint Rose performs in Tula.

Findlay Cockrell makes the first of many trips to Tula to perform with their musicians and teach students.

May Good primary outpatient care is provided in Tula to over 60,000 people with the success of funding efforts to help Tula build and equip an outpatient polyclinic for the managed health care initiative.

June The Soros Foundation announces it will give $1 million to Tula State University for computer technology for the city. Tula provides the infrastructure to support it.

July “Seeds for Democracy,” a fundraising birthday party for the 850th anniversary of Tula is held and hundreds of packages of seeds, as well as funds, are contributed.

September       Hon. Cliff Wharton, former chancellor of the State University of New York and former Under Secretary of State, makes a presentation at the Albany-Tula Alliance Breakfast.

Professors and others from the Capital Region participate in the Tolstoy Conference in Tula.

October A delegation from the Capital Region goes to Tula to participate in the 850thanniversary of the founding of the city. Jack Aernecke of WRGB-TV produces a half-hour film on Tula.

Two scientists from Tula spend two months at Albany Medical Center focused on environmentally caused health problems.

September The Albany-Tula Alliance House, with six bedrooms, is established to accommodate visitors from Tula.

October Tula State University acknowledges to Chairperson Linda Scatton that its Department of Environmental Health and Ecology owes its existence to inspiration and help from the Alliance.

March A professor from Tula arrives for participation in Sage Colleges’ CIVITAS program.

August Two environmental teams, one each from the Capital Region and Tula, work on a proposal for an environmental grant to help clean up severe pollution in Tula.

September Attendees at the Tolstoy Conference in Tula celebrate Tolstoy’s 170th birthday anniversary as well as participate in academic exercises.

Artworks by Arlene Peartree are exhibited and sold as a fundraiser.

October Contributions for Tulan orphanages are sent to Tula, which has only about 20% totally healthy live births.

Nikolai Shurukhnov, Rector of Tula’s Institute of Law, and his deputy Alexander Pushkin, participate in a Civitas/Russia Conference on Civic Education held in Samara, Russia, under the auspices of Sage Colleges.

November The Alliance’s website is initiated—www.albanytula.org.

March A second educator participates in the Civitas Institute.

April Two cosmonauts, one from Tula, visit many schools in the Capital Region and participate in Space Week at RPI.

The Yasnaya Polyana Balalaika Ensemble performs Russian music to thousands of students in the Capital Region schools and participates in the Alliance’s gala event, “1999: A Space Odyssey.”

Dean Thomas Sponsler of Albany Law School makes his first trip to Tula to lecture and to initiate the growing relationship between the Albany Law School and Tula’s Institute of Law.

July A delegation from several colleges, governmental units and business from Tula come to Albany to work with professionals from the Capital Region on a grant proposal relating to the need for more and better water in Tula.

October Funds for drugs for hypertension are sent to Tula and a controlled study performed , resulting in an excellent report concluding that medication and education makes significant differences in persons with hypertension.

A visit by chair of the sociology department of Tolstoy State University, Professor Vladimir Fokine, to Rockefeller College of SUNY results in the publication of one of the first “how to do gerontology” books in Russia.

Alliance Chair David Carpenter announces receiving a grant for International Training in Environmental and Occupational Health. Dr. Carpenter selects Tulans to help with this grant.

About 100 people in Tula use software from MapInfo.

February The US Department of Commerce announces the third SABIT grant to the Alliance to bring Tulans to the Capital Region for training in business in a free-market economy.

April Twelve leaders of not-for-profit organizations in the Capital Region go to Tula to participate in a non-government organization (NGO) conference with leaders of approximately 30 similar organizations in Tula. The US Embassy in Moscow sends the Cultural Attaché to attend.

A fashion show, featuring the designs of Tula fashion designer Albina Mikhailina, is presented at Schuyler Meadows Country Club.

May A fundraiser, “Songs at Sunset,” is held at the home of the Buchanans and features tenor Richard Miller and soprano Cathie Gifford.

June A Tula middle school teams with Maplewood School in Colonie to participate in theTimes Union annual stock market game and comes in 5th out of 1,300 contestant teams.

September The international education seminar group from the Capital Region holds a seminar in Tula to discuss the preparation of American teachers and education for the future.

October The Alliance sponsors “Romantic Russia: Dostoevsky, Chekhov, and Tolstoy,” a tour to St. Petersburg, Moscow and Tula.

November The Tula State University grants the tenth honorary doctorate in its 70-year history to Charlotte Buchanan, the first woman and the first foreigner to receive such an honor.

January Business internship begins the start of offshore computer programming, which benefits Capital Region companies as well as Tula, without taking jobs from qualified Americans.

April “Petrushka’s Street Fair,” an art show of the gift from Tulan art students of their paintings based on Russian fairytales, is presented at Emma Willard School with many performing artists throughout the day and evening.

May The winners of the Young Writers Competition, a university writing contest are announced. Tulan college students wrote in English on the topic of Mark Twain. Capital Region college students wrote in Russian on the topic of Tolstoy.

October Jr. Achievement Companies in Tula join with a Jr. Achievement Company in Scotia to create a global company.

A project is begun which will develop cooperative educational college programs and market Capital Region colleges and universities to Russians.

Chancellor Robert King of SUNY and President Karen Hitchcock of the University at Albany agree to be honorary chairs of the yearlong celebration of the 10th anniversary of the Albany-Tula Alliance.

The Young Writers Competition, in English by Russian students at the Tolstoy State Pedagogical University and in Russian by American students at the University at Albany, will be extended to high school students in Tula.

February The Tula-Albany Alliance office opens with part-time staff in the Hotel of Demidov’s Style in Tula, contributed by the Company of Demidov’s Style.

A semester-long course of law at the Institute of Law in Tula begins with presentations by eight professor of law from Albany Law School, who make sequential trips to Tula.

The Education Center in Tula begins, with a focus on marketing distance learning and university degrees from the Capital Region to Russians, particularly in business and information systems. (However, it really never got started.)

March The Yasnaya Polyana Balalaika Ensemble and baritone Vasiliy Ovsyannikov give daily concerts in Capital Region Schools and other venues for two weeks.

An informational and photographic display of Tula opens for a three-month exhibit at the Albany International Airport showing the relationship between the Capital Region and Tula.

April An art and music exhibit, “American National Traditions through the Eyes of Russian Children,” is presented in Albany, with paintings of American fairytales and traditions created by students in Tula.

Tenth anniversary celebrations begin:
—  Albany Law School presents James F. Collins, former U.S. Ambassador to Russia, with an honorary doctorate degree.
—  Ambassador King is keynote speaker at the evening celebration.
—  The Yasnaya Polyana Ensemble and Baritone Vasiliy Ovsyannikov perform.

Igor Konorev, Chief Judge for the Tula Oblast, spends two weeks in the Capital Region learning about the US jury system, which will be implemented in Russia for criminal cases by January 2003.

May Albany Law School hosts eight judges from Tula for a week-long training session in the jury system and observation of the US court system.

Troy Savings Bank underwrites a concert by the Empire State Youth Orchestra and reception at the Troy Savings Bank Music Hall to benefit the Alliance.

June English majors at the Tolstoy State Pedagogical University produce “Tom Sawyer” in English.

The “Romantic Russia 2002” tour takes 14 Americans for a trip to St. Petersburg, Moscow and Tula.

An appeal for the Tula Municipal Orphanage raises over $5,000 to purchase two washing machines, a refrigerator, clothing and bedding.

August The “Classic Russia 2002” group of 14 Americans attends the 10th anniversary celebration in Tula. Festivities include beautiful music jointly performed by Tulans and Findlay Cockrell and Cathie Gifford from Albany.

Professor Vladimir Fokine, Chair of the Department of Social Work at the Pedagogical University, presents copies of his book, the first “how-to” book on gerontology written in Russian for social workers, with contributions from specialists at the University at Albany, and sponsored by the Alliance.

The Alliance House reopens in a new location with four bedrooms.

September A hypertension project, funded by the Alliance, is implemented at the Polyclinic at Hospital #1 in Tula. Positive results with patients occurred with medication and life style changes based on education of patients.

The College of Saint Rose and the Tolstoy State Pedagogical University begin exchanging professors.

The first of three business seminars, each for two full days, is presented in Tula. Five presenters will focus on business organizations, marketing, human resources, public relations and team building.

October Eight health care professionals and policy makers, under an Open World Leadership grant from the Library of Congress, spend a week in the Capital Region.

April “Tolstoy in Love,” an original play written for this occasion, is presented at Capital Repertory Theatre as an artistic and fundraising event and includes the auction of children’s art from Tula.

Seven specialists from the Capital Region and two nationally recognized experts in gerontology present at a gerontology conference in Tula, with continuing plans for ongoing relationships and the beginning of a gerontology center at the Tolstoy State Pedagogical University.

May Eight businessmen/women and two facilitators from Tula go to Washington, DC for two days and the Capital Region for eight days of exposure to American business practices through the Library of Congress Open World grant.

Three obstetricians from the Capital Region go to Tula to perform a needs assessment in maternal/childcare issues.

September Irina Ignatova of the Pedagogical University arrives for a month-long stay to experience American life as she develops a course to teach American Culture.

November The Alliance hosts eight participants, two facilitators and an interpreter under an Open World Leadership grant from AED in the field of environment.

January Rector Sokolov from Tula State University visits with a focus on environmental issues.

SABIT Intern Daniil Fridzon arrives for a three-month internship with the YMCA in Guilderland.

March Professor Zinaida Chebotar, an expert in methodologies of teaching mathematics from Tolstoy State Pedagogical University, learns and teaches in the Capital Region. She is hosted for one week by the Alliance and one week by the College of Saint Rose.

Professor Olga Zaslavskaya, an educator with a specialty in teaching the gifted, spends a week with our professionals.

Professor Vladimir Fokine spends two months working with professionals in the School of Social Welfare at the University at Albany developing a new curriculum for training social workers, and another curriculum for social workers focused on gerontology. He brings copies of the book he edited of American and Russian professors of social and gerontology work, which is being distributed throughout Russia.

April The Alliance honors the Times Union and its leaders for safeguarding the first amendment.

May SABIT Intern Sergey Plakhov arrives for a three-month internship with Northwestern Mutual Financial Network.

June The winners of the essay contest at the Pedagogical University and Gymnasiums in Tula and the University at Albany and high schools in the Capital Region are awarded their prizes.

Morgan Mandeville, who just graduated from Skidmore College, had a two-month internship in the City Administration in Tula.

Dr. Myron Gordon, Ob/Gyn, goes to Tula to make arrangements for the maternal/infant conference to be held in Tula.

July The fourth SABIT Intern in 2004 from Tula, Anna Troshina, arrives for her internship at SEFCU.

September “Songs at Sunset,” a fundraising concert donated by tenor Richard Miller, is presented at the home of the Buchanans.

The Yasnaya Polyana Balalaika Ensemble and Baritone Vasiliy Ovsyannikov give daily concerts in Capital Region Schools as well as other local venues for a week. An appearance on WAMC-FM is broadcast live to WAMC’s seven-state listening area.

Professor Igor Bushujev of the Tula branch of the Moscow Law Institute arrives for a weeklong stay, visiting and lecturing at Albany Law School.

November SABIT Intern Evgenia Federova arrives for a three-month internship at the Times Union.

January SABIT Intern Svetlana Kartinina arrives for a three-month internship in international trade with Empire State Development.

Psychologist Elena Bortuleva of Tula’s Valeocenter arrives for a two-week stay to learn about America’s experience in tobacco, alcohol and drug prevention work. She plans to integrate the experiences gained to develop an effective drug prevention project for the Tula teens.

March A delegation of Committee Chairs, Officers and the Administrator of ATA travel to Tula for planning with counterparts there. Tolstoy Pedagogical University presents a play in English based on O. Henry short stories. Chairman Jerry Shaye presents awards to the winners of the essay contest, Dr. Mark Hillman gives business seminars, Charlotte Buchanan gives a presentation on the “Development of Democracy in the US” at a conference hosted by the University of Law in Tula, and Barbara Webster gives two lectures at Tula State University.

April Dean Irina Batinina, head of the college of the humanities at Tula State University, and Prof. Sergei Pukhanov come to the Capital Region especially to draw on expertise in Marketing and Public Relations, a new major at the TSU.

The Lake George Opera apprentices donate a concert at a fundraiser at the home of the Buchanans.

The annual fundraising event, “Shall We Dance,” features US champion ballroom dancers and others who dance for and with guests for an elegant evening at the Franklin Ballroom.

May A maternal/infant conference is held in Tula with six physicians and two nurses from the Capital Region—led by Dr. Myron Gordon.

June Two camp staffers from Tula spend the summer at YMCA Camp Chingachook on Lake George.

July SABIT Intern Alexey Martemyanov arrives for a three-month internship at MySmartSimulations in Saratoga Springs.

August SABIT awards six new internships, which will be completed during 2005-2006.

September The newly designed website, contracted with Demidov’s Style Company in Tula, is up and running.

October Prof. Lyudmila Sedunova, professor of music at Tolstoy State Pedagogical University, spends two weeks visiting local schools and universities to gain knowledge of American music education.

Local school librarians Rita Moore of Schenectady’s Central Park Middle School and Mary Emerson of Tamarack Middle / High School travel with Barbara Webster to Tula to participate in a conference, “The Reading Child in the Modern World.”

SABIT Intern Sergey Kukushkin arrives for a three-month internship at Autotask.

Alliance Chair Jerry Shaye travels to Tula to present seminars in business.

November SABIT Intern Alexey Melnikov arrives for a one-month internship at Albany’s Ft. Orange Club

Nine business people, under an Open World Leadership grant from the Library of Congress, spend a week in the Capital Region for business and economic development.

January “Songs at Sunset,” a fundraising concert with tenor Richard Miller, soprano Emalie Savoy, pianist Thomas Savoy and the Ft. Orange Singers, is presented at the home of the Buchanans.

Two MBA students from the Graduate College of Union travel to Tula to research and construct a business plan as part of their team’s development of a strategic plan for a prefabricated housing project.

SABIT Intern Tatiana Sudarikova arrives for a three-month internship with Empire State Development.

February SABIT Interns Igor Denisov and Alexander Gulyaev arrive for three-month internships at the Times Union and MySmartSimulations, respectively.

Two students from the Tula International Academy of Tourism, an accredited college-level institute, arrive to study for the Spring term at SUNY Cobleskill and then obtain internships in the field. One of the Academy’s goals is to market Tula as a travel destination.

March SABIT Intern Alexey Fedotov arrives for a three-month internship with SEFCU.

The Alliance distributed a Young Adult Reading List of Modern American Literature to students in Tula. It formed the basis for the upcoming essay contest.

April The annual fundraising event, “Shall We Dance,” features professional ballroom dancers and their students who dance for and with guests for an elegant evening at Wolferts Roost Country Club.

An all-day symposium, “Get the Lead Out,” is held at UAlbany’s School of Public Health to focus on the devastating effects of toxic environmental lead contamination, a problem common to both the Capital Region and Tula. A “mirror” conference will be held in Tula in October.

A delegation of ATA Board members and the Head of RPI Incubator travels to Tula to discuss plans and meet with Tula’s newly elected City Manager Albert Ukolov and some of his administrators. Relationships between Tula State University and colleges and universities in the Capital Region are deepened and expand to SUNY Cobleskill in fields of child development and environment as well as tourism. ATA hosts a dinner for alumni of the Open World and SABIT programs at which the new rector of Tula State University, Mikhail Gryazev, as well as former rector, now president Eduard Sokolov attended. ATA Chair Jerry Shaye presents awards for the jointly sponsored Young Writers Essay Competition at a festive ceremony.

July Tula Drama Theatre director Dmitry Krasnov arrives for a monthlong internship at Capital Repertory Theatre.

September SABIT interns Oleg Brakorenko and Evgeny Dyskin arrive for internships at Albany International Company and Albany Medical Center, respectively.

September “Songs at Sunset,” a fundraising concert with the Musicians of Ma’alwyck, is presented at the home of the Buchanans.

Dr. Valentina Shcherbakova, president of the Tula’s International Academy for Tourism, arrives for a weeklong stay at SUNY Cobleskill.

October A delegation of 11 travels to Tula for a variety of activities including perinatal and lead conferences, presentation of $5,000 in grants to two orphanages, and strengthening connections with Tula State University, Tolstoy State Pedagogical University and the business and artistic communities.

October Dean of the College of Business at the Union Graduation College, Melvin Chudzik was a guest lecturer at Tula State University and the Pedagogical University.

October Follow-up on the Oct. 2005 conference “The Read Child in the Modern World.”  Hosted 8 librarians and 2 interpreters from Tula, including attending the NY Library Assn Conference in Saratoga Springs, tours of school libraries, St. Rose curriculum library,  NYS Library, and the U. of A. Information Studies and School of Education.

January Vladimir Kuperman met with potential panel manufacturers for the prefabricated housing project in Tula.  Kuperman also met with the Business Development Committee to update the business activities in Tula.

February Visit of Tulans Drs. Elena Orekhova and Vladimir Andreed to discuss foreign language instruction in the U.S. and Russia.  Visits included Niskayuna HS, SUNY Cobleskill, SUNY Albany Research Library, St. Rose, and Shaker High School.

May “Shall We Dance?” with a professional show by the Fred Astaire Dance Studio of Latham at Wolferts Roost was another successful evening.

May  Grants were given to three assistant professors at TSU and to three assistant professors at TSPU.

June Benita Zahn, Channel 10 anchor woman; Sony Stark, camerawoman; Nina Reich; and Charlotte Buchanan traveled to Moscow and Tula, accompanied by Steve Lobel and Helen Figgie (who distributed a range of medical supplies provided by CDPHP).  Benita and Sony produced three two minutes segments that aired on the evening news. The focus was on healthcare and the changes in Tula since 1991 and what the ATA has contributed to that. Benita and Sony also produced three 13 minute segments that were interspersed with commentary from professionals in the healthcare field who had been to Tula to make a hour documentary that was aired several times on WMHT-TV.

June Findlay Cockrell performed a number of concerts in Tula with several local musical groups. He and Marcia sponsored concurrent trips for three Capital-region young people who are members of the Capital String Trio, and they also performed for Russian audiences.

August Three teenagers from Tula, whose family paid the full camping fee, were campers at YMCA Camp Chingachgook on Lake George.  Two young adults were camp staff members.

Fall The School of Global Commerce of Schenectady High School exchanged CDs of musical performances with School No 24 in Tula, and the students continued to exchange e-mail.

September Retired U. of A. professors George Hastings and Iliana Semmler were guest lecturers at the Tolstoy State Pedagogical University.

September “Songs at Sunset” was again completely sold out and raised several thousand dollars for the ATA.

October Barbara Jancar-Webster and the Education/Cultural Committee planned a program and facilitated many visits by four Tulan librarians sponsored by the Open World Program.

October Charlotte led her fifth tourism group to St. Petersburg, Moscow, and Tula (and for the first time to Krakow, Poland).  The trip of 13 people was completely successful and raised several thousand dollars for the ATA.

November A delegation from Tula, focused on environmentally caused health problems, spent time in the Capital Region to explore opportunities to work with counterparts here.  The topic chosen by the Americans to explore was lead accumulation in infants and children.  Former head of the ATA Health/Environment Committee Dr. James Figge also made some presentations in Tula.

Strong relationships have developed between SUNY Cobleskill and the Pedagogical University in the areas of early childhood development and tourism.  Several Tulan students from the Academy of Tourism and the Pedagogical University has taken a tourism course and been placed for the U.S. internship by Cobleskill.

May The winners of the essay writing contest in English for students at the Pedagogical Univer- sity were announced.  High School essay contest winners in the Capital Region and Tula      were announced and prizes awarded.

May For the third year grants of $1,000, $2,000, and $3,000 to three assistant professors at Tula State University and three at Tolstoy State Pedagogical University were granted.

May Another successful “Shall We Dance?” fund raiser at the National Museum of Dance in Saratoga Springs.  New to the evening was a celebrity competition, providing not only fun but funds for the celebrities’ charitable organizations as well as the ATA.

May The ATA sponsored Profs Sandra Malcolm and Gail Wentworth from the Department of Early Childhood Education at SUNY Cobleskill and Donald Walton, an American history teacher at Colonie Central High School to participate in a seminar on American Studies at the Tula State University.  The three teachers also presented lectures at the university.

September “Songs at Sunset” was again completely sold out and raised several thousand dollars for the ATA.

October Lois Shapiro-Canter, Rudy Nydegger, Prof. at the Union Graduate College, and Charlotte Buchanan traveled to Tula to help celebrate the 70th anniversary of the Pedagogical University and present lectures at the Pedagogical University, Tula State University and the Law Institute.

October Dr. Nadezdha Shaidenko, Rector of the Tolstoy State Pedagogical University and Dr. Zhanna Fomicheva, Deputy Rector visited SUNY Central, U. of A., SUNY Cobleskill, Schenectady HS, Union College, St. Rose, Siena College and Hudson Valley Community College.

December An Open World delegation of 5 high school and middle school administrators and facilitator Sergei Pukhanov spent 9 days visiting schools and universities.

February Work got underway in the creation of the commemorative sculpture in Albany’s Tricentennial Park, to celebrate the long and strong linkage between the two cities. The work is a six-foot globe, with a bridge connection Albany and Tula.

February The Alliance accepted a restricted donation to fund the creation of a grant program to support six young professors at our two partner universities in Tula.

February The Alliance played a significant part in the very successful first presentation of the Russian Winter Festival, a new and annual event in the Capital Region.

March Mayor Jerry Jennings of Albany honored the Alliance by accepting the position of Honorary Chair.

March Tula environmental science expert Svetlana Goryelova met during a New York stay of more than a week, with scientists and policy-makers in state government and academia, sharing research and information on her specialty of soil pollutants in roots and leafy vegetables.

March Maria Filatova of Tula spent more than two weeks in Albany, giving numerous lectures at local schools.

April Tulans Vladimir Fokine and Maria Filatova visited the Capital Region.

May U/Albany School of Public Health Dean Phil Nasca and Assistant Dean Carol Whittaker, visited Tula and carried out a number of high-level meetings relating to the development of cooperative research programs and exchange visits. Additionally, they lectured to a number of classes, as well as at a conference on rational uses of natural resources in development.

June The Alliance was happy to host the visit of Olga Svichtcheva, an engineer focusing on water resources.

June The Alliance opened its own Facebook Group, as well as a similar undertaking on LinkedIn.

September “Songs at Sunset” was again completely sold out and raised several thousand dollars for the ATA.

October Charlotte Buchanan traveled to Tula, where she met with a number of high-level members of the city administration.

February The Alliance participated in the Second Annual Russian Winter Festival in Albany.

February From Russia With Love, the Alliance’s winter fund-raiser, was a wonderful success – featuring a thrilling dance performance by the Varenka ensemble from Tula. More than 70 people attended.

March The annual essay contest resulted in 20 entries, with the two winners being Charlotte Storch of Bethlehem Central High School, and Rachel Augustine of Shenendahowa Hight School. Both winners visited Tula during the summer of 2010.

The Alliance hosted Alexander Khrupachev, a Professor in the Medical Institute of Tula State University for meetings with the University at Albany’s School of Public Health and Atmospheric Sciences Research institute, and the New York State Health Department’s Division of Environmental Health and the Wadsworth Center for Laboratories and Research. During this visit that a Memorandum of Understanding to formalize this partnership was signed. This document to promote collaborative research and on-going exchanges of faculty and students was signed by Mikhail V. Gryazev, Rector of Tula State University, and George Philip, President of the University at Albany.

April The International Olympiad administered by our Tula university colleagues got underway, and three teachers from Schenectady traveled to Tula to review the submittals of 249 students, in which they were tested in British and American English usage, and subsequently in American history, as well as in knowledge of the Capital Region. Two winners were selected, and will travel to Albany in early 2011.

October The Alliance sent a delegation to Tula to meet with city, oblast, and university officials and invite participation in the 20th anniversary celebrations being planned.

November  With help from Schnectady School Librarian, Jim Schneider, Zoller Elementary of Schenectady hosts a SKYPE session between 8-9 year olds with Tulan teenagers of School #3.   Dawn Weinraub served Tula cakes and Vladimir Kuperman finalized the connection from Tula.  Sonja Stark made a video of the event including an interview with Jim Schneider available online at the ATA Youtube Channel.  

February The Alliance participated in the Third Annual Russian Winter Festival in Albany.

March Fundraising continues for our 20th anniversary celebrations including transportation, meals, tours and homestays for the Road to Paradise playwright and arranger and website improvements.

April Barbara Webster set up a very successful Open World visit with grant expenses going towards a visit with New York’s only Russian-heritage Assemblyman (district of Brooklyn). Andrei Kopylov lead the group.   Judging of Olympiad contest winners culminated in winners David Connor of Tamarack (Yuri Gagarin) and Alessandra Pratt of North Warren (Catherine the Great).   Essay Contest winners were also announced: Wyatt Smith of Ballston Lake and Vladisov Valyoshin of Tula, both who wrote about the impact of space exploration on world peace and technology advancement.

May A steel sculpture built by Steve Kroeger to showcase the ties between Tula and Albany was dedicated in Tricentennial Park with dozens of public officials and news outlets attending.  Successful meetings between Rector Gryazov of Tula State University and Mel Chudzik of Union College and Ray Bromley, Director of International Relations at the University of Albany, continued through the month.

June/August A successful visit between members of the ATA and Russian Consulate in NYC including three officers of the Russian-American Chamber of Commerce and the senior advisor to the Russian delegation to the United Nations.

September 20th Anniversary Exhibition opened at the Troy Arts Center with a special showing of the Memory Project video shot and edited by Sonja Stark and Tula filmmaker, Mikhail Tonyev. Songs at Sunset was on Sept 19th.  Three contest winners accompanied by Lena Sullivan left for Tula on Sept 10th. Dr. Panin, Vice Rector of TSPU arrived on Sept 15th to speak with finance administrators and physics professors.  Dr. Ed Fitzergald works with Tulan translators on scientific journals. Phil Nasca and Carol Whittaker prepare videoconferences with Dr. Mikhail Budenkov on drinking water safety. Business chair, Greg Johnson, videoconferences with Tula State University incubator. Jan Smith hosts 2 marketing Tulans doing internships.  Jan and Dawn Weinraub meet with Father Olson of St. Basil’s church in Watervliet and Professor of Russian Studies, Nadia Kazenko at the University of Albany to discuss ways to make the Alliance more relevant to Albany’s Russian community.

October Jerry Shaye visits Kazan (on the Volga river) and Tula to teach a master class on business concepts to english-speaking graduate students at Kazan Federal University and TSU.   While in Tula,  he met with Zhanna to discuss details for Tula’s Tolstoy Conference aimed for Sept 2012 that would tie in perfectly with a visit by the winning students of the 2012 Essay Contest.   Jerry also meets with Galina Prokhorova, head of the Tula Administration and Ilya Vesakov, head of Economic Development.   Greg Johnson discussed Roman Rostislavov’s successful 14-day internship with the Schwartz Heslin Group.  Carol Whittaker and David Carpenter chair a 2.5 hour videoconference about water problems in Tula between the Tula Chamber of Commerce and Industry administration representatives and the Albany City Water Department officials.

December  A student team from TSU and Kazan Federal University begin creating information-gathering marketing reports for Capital Region companies wishing to do business in Russia: Environment One, BullEx, Digital Safety and Aeromed.  A delegation of 9 University leaders tour the College of Nanosciences hosted by the RPI Center for Advanced Technology for Manufacturing.   

May ATA Educational co-chair, Dawn Weinraub and French and Russian language teacher Bonny Einstein (Shaker High School) spend several days in Moscow for the Zverev International Biennial Conference on American Studies at Moscow University.   Weinraub and Einstein are invited to speak publicly with powerpoint slides at the conference.  They address topics that promote cross-cultural understanding through Sister-City sponsored competitions and arts in the education program.   Einstein opens up her engaging talk with a fairy tale poem by Pushkin.

May Russian guests Vladimir Andreev and Rector of Tolstoy State Pedagogical Vladimir Panin and Zhanna Fomicheva visit Albany.

September ATA becomes Instagram-ready!

October  2013 Russian Olympiad winners, Will Heatley of Tamarac High School and Margaret Keesee of Guilderland High School visit Tula, including Pedagogical University that celebrated 75 years.  Head of Office of International Relations, Zhanna Fomicheva along with Vladimir Andreev and Irina Bolushevskaya work tirelessly to accommodate the visit.

December ATA hosts a Grand Reception before the Moscow Ballet’s Great Russian Nutcracker performance.  The holiday experience takes place at the Hampton Inn and Suites across the street from the Palace Theater.  Local celebrity chef Yono caters gusts with Russian hor d’oeuvres.

February  Launch of the 2014 Essay Contest.  Topic question  “How has social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram) impacted modern Russian society?” kicks off with an Informational Gathering at the William K. Sanford town library.  Former Essay Contest winner Rose Schneider and Education Committee Chair Barbara Webster present slide shows.

September  Songs at Sunset fundraising event location switches locations and is held at the Fort Orange Club for the first time.

September  An Open World Leadership delegation spend 10 days in Albany. Visitors include web editor and digital media director, Kseniya Grybkova, Engineer, Valentina Stepanova and Attorney, Yekaterina Gorina.


February Television host, Phil Bailey of WNYT’s (Local NBS affiliate, Channel 13) of The Forum interviews Education Committee Chair, Barbara Webster about yearly activities.

September 2012 Student Essay Contest winners Haewon Hwang (of Guilderland High School) and Rose Schneider (of Ichabod Crane High School) visit Tula and Moscow. The duo wrote about Leo Tolstoy’s influence on the thoughts of world leaders and read their essays out loud to several students at Tula Ped.

October 10-day visit of 6 leading Russian educators from Tula’s two universities and the Education Research Institute. Highlights includes a tour of the State Capitol by New York State Assemblyman Jack McEneny and a trip to NYSERDA’s Saratoga Technology and Energy Park in Malta. Ruth Pelham of the Music Mobile program also helped entertain the guests.

October The Open World Program kicks off with a welcome party at the home of former ATA board member Mary Emerson and her husband Brian.

November At the invitation of Prof. Yuriy Chadaev, head of the Innovative Business Incubator at TSU, ATA Chair Jerry Shaye travels to Tula to visit Lyceum #4, a school enthusiastic for partnering with the ATA. Shaye visits the new Arms Museum of Tula.

May ATA Educational co-chair, Dawn Weinraub and French and Russian language teacher Bonny Einstein (Shaker High School) spend several days in Moscow for the Zverev International Biennial Conference on American Studies at Moscow University. Weinraub and Einstein are invited to speak publicly with powerpoint slides at the conference. They address topics that promote cross-cultural understanding through Sister-City sponsored competitions and arts in the education program. Einstein opens up her engaging talk with a fairy tale poem by Pushkin.

May Russian guests Vladimir Andreev and Rector of Tolstoy State Pedagogical Vladimir Panin and Zhanna Fomicheva visit Albany.

September ATA becomes Instagram-ready!

October 2013 Russian Olympiad winners, Will Heatley of Tamarac High School and Margaret Keesee of Guilderland High School visit Tula, including Pedagogical University that celebrated 75 years. Head of Office of International Relations, Zhanna Fomicheva along with Vladimir Andreev and Irina Bolushevskaya work tirelessly to accommodate the visit.

December ATA hosts a Grand Reception before the Moscow Ballet’s Great Russian Nutcracker performance. The holiday experience takes place at the Hampton Inn and Suites across the street from the Palace Theater. Local celebrity chef Yono caters gusts with Russian hor d’oeuvres.

February Launch of the 2014 Essay Contest. Topic question “How has social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram) impacted modern Russian society?” kicks off with an Informational Gathering at the William K. Sanford town library. Former Essay Contest winner Rose Schneider and Education Committee Chair Barbara Webster present slide shows.

September Songs at Sunset fundraising event location switches locations and is held at the Fort Orange Club for the first time.

September An Open World Leadership delegation spend 10 days in Albany. Visitors include web editor and digital media director, Kseniya Grybkova, Engineer, Valentina Stepanova and Attorney, Yekaterina Gorina.

April ATA participates in the Freihopher’s 37th run for women by walking 1.8 miles through Albany city streets and neighborhoods.

Read Some of Our Stories

Come to the ATA Fundraiser Songs at Sunset in September
Come to the ATA Fundraiser Songs at Sunset in September
August 09,2018 - 3:09 pm
Visiting Russia?  Don’t forget the maple syrup
Visiting Russia? Don’t forget the maple syrup
May 09,2018 - 9:46 pm
Winners of the 2018 Essay Contest
Winners of the 2018 Essay Contest
May 05,2018 - 1:54 pm
Russian Life filmmaker Paul Richardson coming to Capital Region
Russian Life filmmaker Paul Richardson coming to Capital Region
April 11,2018 - 2:30 pm
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The Latest from Albany-Tula

Come to the ATA Fundraiser Songs at Sunset in September
Come to the ATA Fundraiser Songs at Sunset in September
August 09,2018 - 3:09 pm
Visiting Russia?  Don’t forget the maple syrup
Visiting Russia? Don’t forget the maple syrup
May 09,2018 - 9:46 pm
Winners of the 2018 Essay Contest
Winners of the 2018 Essay Contest
May 05,2018 - 1:54 pm

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