Professor Kopanic has always had a keen interest in history and this translated into a wish to learn more about his ancestors while attending college. He wanted to communicate in Slovak with his baba (grandmother) and Slovak-born mother, who emigrated before World War II. This inspired his wish to learn the Slovak language and culture. When studying for a doctorate in history, he found that only the University of Pittsburgh continually offered courses in Slovak, so he transferred to Pitt from the University of Toronto. His quest to learn culminated in his first trip to his mother’s ancestral home while backpacking for three months across Europe, and four years later, a year-long stay for doctoral research in communist Czechoslovakia. Since then, he has made over 20 trips to Slovakia, including attending three Slovak summer schools at Comenius University in Bratislava, Studia Academica Slovaca.
He has earned degrees from Youngstown State University (A.B.), the University of Notre Dame (M.A.), and the University of Pittsburgh (Ph.D.). He is an Adjunct Professor of History at the University of Maryland Global Campus (UMGC). There, Professor Kopanic has served as Course Chair and Course Coordinator for European history courses. He received a Teaching Award in 2012 and an Outstanding Faculty Recognition Award in 2025. He administers three Facebook sites: Learning the Slovak Language and Culture, Slovak History, and the Slovak Studies Association. He also presents historical and cultural talks on “Slovak and Czech Notes”, an online radio program which has podcasts available on the web to listen to any time: https://slovakandczechnotes.com/listen-now.
Dr. Kopanic has been involved with the FCSU since the early 1980s. He was first drawn to the organization by its fraternal newspaper, which features rich content about Slovaks, Slovak culture, and Slovak history. He started as a subscriber to Jednota and began contributing articles in the 1980s. Over the years, he has written hundreds of articles and served as Editor from January 2022 to September 2023. He currently serves as President of District 7 and Recording Secretary of Branch 23 and previously held other officer roles. In his leadership roles, he has helped members learn Slovak expressions and prayers, and he continues to promote Slovak traditions by introducing songs and cultural education into meetings.
Professor Kopanic has also contributed numerous articles to many academic publications, and edited the books Slovaks in America and Illustrated Slovak History. A former Czechoslovak Genealogical Society International board member, he serves on the Academic Committee of the Museum of Slovak Emigration to North America, is an academic consultant for Global Slovakia and is on the editorial board of the journal Kultúrne dejiny (Cultural History, Ružomberok, Slovakia). He is currently working on a book about Slovak traditional customs. He is working closely with Professor Martin Javor of Prešov University, the founder and Director of The Museum of Slovak Emigration to North America in the eastern Slovak village of Ťahyňa. Kopanic is editing the English translation of Javor’s book, A History of the First Catholic Slovak Union to 1945. Beyond his writing, he also led three tour groups to Slovakia in 1995, 1998, and 2001, fostering deeper connections with Slovak heritage. He was a Pennsylvania Humanities Council Commonwealth Speaker from 2000-2004 and lectured on Slovaks in Penns across the state. He has regularly attended and supported Slovak cultural events, including the University of Pittsburgh Slovak Heritage Festival, the Johnstown and Youngstown Slavic festivals and various summer picnics.
Professor Kopanic has devoted his entire life to learning more about Slovaks and their culture. From their birth, he has spoken only in Slovak with his daughters, Milenka and Erika, and hoped they would carry on the culture and language with his grandchildren. His wife Rebecca and the entire extended family are FCSU members. Both of his daughters twice attended the Slovak Summer School in Bratislava and his oldest, Milenka Feighner, was a singer and dancer in PAS, the Pittsburgh Area Slovak Folk Ensemble. His daughter Erika is a captain in the U.S. Army and is currently stationed at Fort Hood, Texas. Furthermore, he decided that he wished to help others with the same yearning to advance their education. In consulting with the Slovak Studies Program and the Slavic Department, he was told that what the Program needed most was funding for those wishing to learn Slovak. Thus, he decided to fund an endowed scholarship for students studying advanced Slovak. It is his hope that the Slovak Studies Program will continue to flourish, and as an historian, he said that he wants it to be alive and thriving for hundreds of years into the future.
A New Scholarship for Students Studying Slovak at the University of Pittsburgh
The University of Pittsburgh is the only university in North America offering a minor in the Slovak language and culture. In order to help sustain the Slovak Program, FCSU member Professor Michael J. Kopanic, Jr. has funded a permanent scholarship for students who are studying advanced Slovak at the University of Pittsburgh.
The Michael Kopanic, PhD Fund Scholarship
Beginning in the 2025-2026 academic year, students currently studying Slovak courses in the Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures are invited to apply for the Michael Kopanic, PhD Fund Scholarship. Eligible recipients must be in good academic standing, currently enrolled in a Slovak course, and have committed to taking Slovak course(s) within the next academic year.
The Slovak Program and Slavic Studies Program welcome donations to help sustain the study of these cultures and languages. For more information, see the following websites:
• Slovak at Pitt: https://www.facebook.com/PittSlovak
• Slavic Studies website: https://www.slavic.pitt.edu/about/community-support
• The scholarship: Michael Kopanic, PhD Fund Scholarship | Slavic Languages & Literatures