About the Polish Institute of Arts and Sciences of America

TThe Polish Institute of Arts & Sciences of America (PIASA), Polski Instytut Naukowy w Ameryce (in Polish), a non-profit, 501(c)(3) tax exempt, academic and cultural organization founded in 1942 in New York City, is dedicated to the maintenance of a center of learning and culture. Its mission is to advance knowledge about Poland and Polish Americans and serve as a liaison between American and Polish academic communities. Since 1986, its national headquarters is a five-story townhouse on 208 East 30th Street, New York, N.Y. 10016 in the Murray Hill section of Manhattan. The townhouse not only contains administrative and editorial offices, but also houses a specialized reference library of over 20,000 volumes and rich archives which are frequently visited by researchers from all parts of the U.S. and Europe, especially Poland. The New York headquarters also has an art gallery and a small lecture hall where exhibits and lectures are held. Most members of the Institute come from the academic community (scholars and scientists) and the arts and professions. Among its members today are Nobel laureates – Dr. Frank Wilczek of MIT and Dr. Roald Hoffman of Cornell University; in the recent past, they included Czeslaw Milosz, Andrew Schally, and Isaac Bashevis Singer. There is also a student membership category as well as a sustaining membership open to all who are interested in supporting the goals and mission of the Polish Institute.