List of Ukrainian Americans
Encyclopedia
This is a list of notable Ukrainian-Americans, including both original immigrants who obtained American citizenship and their American descendants.
To be included in this list, the person must have a Wikipedia article showing they are Ukrainian American or must have references showing they are Ukrainian American and are notable.
To be included in this list, the person must have a Wikipedia article showing they are Ukrainian American or must have references showing they are Ukrainian American and are notable.
Actors
- Nick Adams (actor), actor
- Pat BilonPat BilonMichael Patrick "Pat" Bilon was an American actor best known for his performances in Under the Rainbow and E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. At no taller than two feet and 10 inches, Bilon was considered one of the smallest adult dwarfs in the country, but he never characterized himself as disabled...
– actor - Matt Czuchry – actor
- Erika EleniakErika EleniakErika Eleniak is an American Playboy Playmate and actress, perhaps best known for her role in Baywatch as Shauni McClain. She also starred in the films Under Siege and The Beverly Hillbillies.-Early life:...
– actress, father is of Ukrainian descent http://www.erikaeleniaksofficialsite.com/faq.html - Vera FarmigaVera FarmigaVera Ann Farmiga is an American actress and director. Farmiga made her film debut in the 1998 drama thriller Return to Paradise. This was followed by supporting roles in the 2000 romantic film Autumn in New York and the 2001 television series UC: Undercover...
– actress - John HodiakJohn HodiakJohn Hodiak was an American actor who worked in radio and film.-Early life:He was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the son of Walter Hodiak and Anna Pogorzelec . He was of Ukrainian and Polish descent...
– actor - Milla JovovichMilla JovovichMilla Jovovich December 17, 1975)is an American model, actress, musician, and fashion designer. Over her career, she has appeared in a number of science fiction and action-themed films, for which music channel VH1 has referred to her as the "reigning queen of kick-butt".Milla Jovovich began...
– famous actress, supermodel and musician - Mila KunisMila KunisMilena "Mila" Kunis is an American actress. Her work includes the role of Jackie Burkhart on the TV series That '70s Show and the voice of Meg Griffin on the animated series Family Guy...
– actress and voice actress - Kiril KulishKiril KulishKiril Kulish is an American actor, dancer, and singer. Beginning his ballet training at the age of five, Kulish became a Tony Award winner at the age of fifteen as Best Leading Actor in a Musical for his role as one of the original Billys in the Broadway production of Billy Elliot the Musical.-...
– stage actor - Traci LordsTraci LordsTraci Lords , also known as Traci Elizabeth Lords and Tracy Lords, is an American film actress, producer, film director, writer and singer...
– an actress born Nora Kuzma; her father is of Ukrainian ancestry. - Larisa OleynikLarisa OleynikLarisa Romanovna Oleynik is an American actress. She came to fame in the mid-1990s, after starring in the title role of the popular television series, The Secret World of Alex Mack, and has also appeared in theatrical films, including The Baby-Sitters Club and 10 Things I Hate About You...
– actress - Bree OlsonBree OlsonRachel Marie Oberlin , known by the stage name of Bree Olson, is an American pornographic actress and Penthouse Pet.-Early life:...
– pornographic actress - Kim OstrenkoKim OstrenkoKim Ostrenko is an American actress with roles in 16 movies and TV shows, most recently playing Alice Connellan in Dolphin Tale . She has also played a number of theatre roles.-Biography:...
- an American theater and movie actress, with significant roles in 16 movies, most recently playing Alice Connellan in Dolphin Tale (2011). - Jack PalanceJack PalanceJack Palance , was an American actor. During half a century of film and television appearances, Palance was nominated for three Academy Awards, all as Best Actor in a Supporting Role, winning in 1991 for his role in City Slickers.-Early life:Palance, one of five children, was born Volodymyr...
– actor - John SpencerJohn Spencer (actor)John Spencer was an American film and television actor. He was most widely known for playing White House Chief of Staff Leo McGarry on the NBC political drama series The West Wing, which earned him an Emmy Award in 2002.-Early life:Spencer was born as John Speshock, Jr. in New York City, and...
– actor (on the maternal side Ukrainian – American)
Government / Civil servants
- Christopher A. BoykoChristopher A. BoykoChristopher Allan Boyko , is a United States federal judge.Born in Cleveland, Ohio, Boyko is a second-generation Ukrainian American. He received a B.A. from Mount Union College in 1976 and a J.D. from Cleveland-Marshall College of Law in 1979...
– United States federal judge - Paula DobrianskyPaula DobrianskyPaula Jon Dobriansky is an American foreign policy expert who has served in key roles as a diplomat and policy maker in the administrations of five U.S. presidents, both Democrat and Republican. She is a specialist in the areas of Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union as well as...
- an American foreign policy expert who has served in key roles as a diplomat and policy maker in the administrations of five U.S. presidents, both Democrat and Republican. She is a specialist in the areas of Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union as well as political-military affairs.
Engineers
- Igor SikorskyIgor SikorskyIgor Sikorsky , born Igor Ivanovich Sikorsky was a Russian American pioneer of aviation in both helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft...
– helicopter designer (on the maternal side Russian – Ukrainian)
Military officers
- Lieut. Charles Archetko – Naval Officer, one of 7 brothers from Rochester, NY representing the largest known Ukrainian-American representation in WWII by a single Family
- Samuel JaskilkaSamuel JaskilkaSamuel Jaskilka is a retired four-star general whose last assignment was Assistant Commandant of the United States Marine Corps . General Jaskilka is a highly decorated veteran of the Korean War, having led the landing at Inchon as a company commander with the 2nd Battalion, 5th Marines...
– former Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps
Musicians
- Neko CaseNeko CaseNeko Case is an American singer-songwriter, best known for her solo career and her contributions as a member of the Canadian indie rock group The New Pornographers....
– singer, songwriter, member of The New Pornographers - Kvitka CisykKvitka CisykKvitka "Kacey" Cisyk was an American soprano of Ukrainian ethnicity. Cisyk, a classically-trained opera singer, successfully pursued a career in four different musical genres: popular music, classical opera, Ukrainian folk music and commercial jingles for radio and TV advertisements.Cisyk...
– soprano singer - Bob DylanBob DylanBob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
- singer-songwriter, poet. His paternal grandparents emigrated from Odessa in the Russian Empire (now Ukraine) to the United States following the anti-Semitic pogroms of 1905. - Anthony FedorovAnthony FedorovAnatoliy Vladimirovich "Anthony" Fedorov is an American singer who was the fourth place finalist on the fourth season of the American Idol.- Biography :...
(1985 – ) singer; finalist on season 4 of American IdolAmerican IdolAmerican Idol, titled American Idol: The Search for a Superstar for the first season, is a reality television singing competition created by Simon Fuller and produced by FremantleMedia North America and 19 Entertainment... - Eugene HützEugene HützEugene Hütz , September 6, 1972) is a Ukrainian-born singer and composer, most notable as the frontman of the critically acclaimed New York Gypsy punk band Gogol Bordello. Hütz is also a DJ and actor.-Early life:...
– musician and actor; lead singer of Gogol BordelloGogol BordelloGogol Bordello is a Gypsy punk band from the Lower East Side of Manhattan, formed in 1999 and known for theatrical stage shows and persistent touring.Much of the band's sound is inspired by Gypsy music... - Wally Palmar – musician of The RomanticsThe RomanticsThe Romantics is an American New Wave band from Detroit, Michigan, formed in 1977. The band adopted the name "The Romantics" because they formed on Valentine's Day, 1977. The Romantics achieved popularity in the United Kingdom, The U.S...
- Maria SokilMaria SokilMaria Sokil was a famous Ukrainian opera singer.Sokil was born in the village of Zherebets' in the Zaporizhia Oblast on October 19, 1902...
– soprano singer - Cole Weintraub – musician, actor, author, playwright
- Dorian RudnytskyDorian RudnytskyDorian Rudnytsky is an American cellist and composer. He was born in New York City but has a Ukrainian background. His father is composer/conductor Antin Rudnytsky, and his mother is soprano Maria Sokil....
– cellist and composer (son of Maria SokilMaria SokilMaria Sokil was a famous Ukrainian opera singer.Sokil was born in the village of Zherebets' in the Zaporizhia Oblast on October 19, 1902...
, his father's Ukrainian) - Julian KytastyJulian KytastyJulian Kytasty is a Ukrainian-American composer, singer, kobzar, bandurist, flute player and conductor. He was born January 23 1958 in Detroit, Michigan, in the family of refugees....
- bandurist, traditional Ukrainian music
Politicians
- Jarek Kubicki, US-American Polish-Ukrainian politician, supporter of pro-Western Ukraine and the Orange Revolution
- Kirill ReznikKirill ReznikKirill Reznik is an American politician from Maryland and a member of the Democratic Party. He is one of three members of the Maryland House of Delegates from District 39...
– politician – Member, Maryland House of Delegates - Kathleen WilleyKathleen WilleyKathleen Willey was a White House volunteer aide who, on March 15, 1998, alleged on the TV news program 60 Minutes that Bill Clinton had sexually assaulted her on November 29, 1993, during his first term as President...
– major figure in the Monica LewinskyMonica LewinskyMonica Samille Lewinsky is an American woman with whom United States President Bill Clinton admitted to having had an "improper relationship" while she worked at the White House in 1995 and 1996...
and Paula JonesPaula JonesPaula Corbin Jones is a former Arkansas state employee who sued U.S. President Bill Clinton for sexual harassment. The lawsuit was dismissed before trial on the grounds that Jones failed to demonstrate any damages...
scandals. Her father was of Ukrainian descent http://books.google.com/books?id=1v5e4lZiS08C&pg=PA8&lpg=PA8&dq=kathleen+willey+mike+matzuk&source=bl&ots=2OQSkBO4NX&sig=CM0315NMUam31QK5jnGNxmYNaIk&hl=en&ei=23ZBSoGKGcLElAf26YzyCA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1.
Religious figures
- Paul CopanPaul CopanPaul Copan is a Ukrainian-American Christian theologian, analytic philosopher, apologist, and author. He is currently a professor at the Palm Beach Atlantic University and holds the Pledger Family Endowed Chair of Philosophy and Ethics...
– a Christian theologian, analytic philosopher, apologist, and author. President of the Evangelical Philosophical SocietyEvangelical Philosophical SocietyEvangelical Philosophical Society is an organization devoted to the study of ethics, theology, and religion from an evangelical perspective. The organization is open to professional scholars with associate membership available to laypersons and students...
. - Jim CymbalaJim CymbalaJames "Jim" R. Cymbala is an American pastor and author. His best-selling books include Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire; Fresh Faith; and Fresh Power...
– pastor for over 25 years of the 10,000-member Brooklyn TabernacleBrooklyn TabernacleBrooklyn Tabernacle is a large church located in downtown Brooklyn. It has 10,000 members and has existed in Brooklyn for over 40 years, during which it has become a major institution in the borough....
church in BrooklynBrooklynBrooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
, NY. - Agapius HoncharenkoAgapius HoncharenkoReverend Agapius Honcharenko , aka Ahapii or Ahapius) was a Ukrainian patriot and exiled Greek Orthodox priest. He was a prominent scholar, humanitarian, and early champion for human rights....
– exiled Orthodox priest
Sports stars
- Wayne ChrebetWayne ChrebetWayne Chrebet is a former football player who played 11 seasons as a wide receiver for the New York Jets of the NFL from 1995 to 2005.- High school and college career :...
– former NFL player - Sasha CohenSasha CohenAlexandra Pauline "Sasha" Cohen is a U.S. figure skater. She is the 2006 Olympic silver medalist, a three-time World Championship medalist, the 2003 Grand Prix Final Champion, and the 2006 U.S. Champion.-Personal life:...
– Olympic silver medalist figure skater (on the maternal side Jewish – Ukrainian). - Mike DitkaMike DitkaMichael Keller Ditka, Jr. is a former American football NFL player, television commentator, and coach. Ditka coached the Chicago Bears for 11 years and New Orleans Saints for three years. Ditka and Tom Flores are the only two people to win Super Bowls as a player, an assistant coach, and a head...
– football player and coach - Wayne GretzkyWayne GretzkyWayne Douglas Gretzky, CC is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player and former head coach. Nicknamed "The Great One", he is generally regarded as the best player in the history of the National Hockey League , and has been called "the greatest hockey player ever" by many sportswriters,...
- ice hockey player of Ukrainian descent; US-Canadian dual citizen - Ruslan FedotenkoRuslan FedotenkoRuslan Viktorovych Fedotenko is a Ukrainian American professional ice hockey winger who is currently playing for the New York Rangers of the National Hockey League . A two-time Stanley Cup champion, in his NHL career he has played for the Philadelphia Flyers, Tampa Bay Lightning, New York...
– Ukrainian-born ice hockey player, US citizen - Igor OlshanskyIgor OlshanskyIgor Olshansky is a Ukrainian-born American football defensive end free agent in National Football League. He last played for the Miami Dolphins....
- (born 1982 in Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine) – football defensive end for the Miami Dolphins of the National Football League
- Dima Kovalenko – (Dmytro "Dema"Kovalenko, born August 28, 1977 in Kiev) – soccer player who currently plays for Los Angeles Galaxy in Major League Soccer.
- Dmitry SalitaDmitry SalitaDmitry Salita is a Ukrainian-born Jewish-American boxer from Brooklyn, New York in the welterweight division.He has a 33–1–1 record, with 16 KOs. He is , and his reach is 69".He is a practicing Orthodox Jew, and became so after he moved to Brooklyn...
– Ukrainian born American boxer.Also called Star of David. - Richard SandrakRichard SandrakRichard Sandrak , also known as Little Hercules, is a Ukrainian-born, American bodybuilder, martial artist and actor, renowned for his muscular physique at an extremely young age...
(1992 – ) child bodybuilder - Flip SaundersFlip SaundersPhillip "Flip" Saunders is an American basketball head coach of the Washington Wizards. He previously coached the Detroit Pistons and the Minnesota Timberwolves.-High school and college player:Saunders was born in Cincinnati, Ohio....
– head coach for Detroit PistonsDetroit PistonsThe Detroit Pistons are a franchise of the National Basketball Association based in Auburn Hills, Michigan. The team's home arena is The Palace of Auburn Hills. It was originally founded in Fort Wayne, Indiana as the Fort Wayne Pistons as a member of the National Basketball League in 1941, where...
and coaches in the NBA - Wally SzczerbiakWally SzczerbiakWalter Robert "Wally" Szczerbiak is an American former professional basketball player.-Early life:Szczerbiak was born in Madrid, Spain, while his father Walter was playing for Real Madrid, and spent much of his childhood in Europe during his father's playing career...
– basketball player in the NBA and currently plays for the Cleveland CavaliersCleveland CavaliersThe Cleveland Cavaliers are a professional basketball team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They began playing in the National Basketball Association in 1970 as an expansion team...
. - Oleg PrudiusOleg PrudiusOleg Aleksandrovich Prudius is a Ukrainian American professional wrestler, also known by his ring name Vladimir Kozlov . Since competing for WWE, he won the WWE Tag Team Championships with Santino Marella on one occasion...
– professional wrestler known as Vladimir Kozlov
Scientists and Scholars
- Lev DobrianskyLev DobrianskyLev E. Dobriansky, Ph.D. was a professor of economics at Georgetown University, U.S. ambassador to the Bahamas and anti-communist advocate...
- was a professor of economics at Georgetown UniversityGeorgetown UniversityGeorgetown University is a private, Jesuit, research university whose main campus is in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic university in the United States...
, U.S. ambassador to the Bahamas and anti-communist advocate. He is known for his work with the National Captive Nations CommitteeNational Captive Nations CommitteeThe National Captive Nations Committee is an anti-Communism advocacy group based in Washington, D.C.. It was established in 1959 according to by President Dwight D. Eisenhower, which introduced the Captive Nations Week, with the purpose to maintain the Captive Nations List...
, which he initiated during the Eisenhower Administration, and the Victims of Communism Memorial FoundationVictims of Communism Memorial FoundationThe Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation is a non-profit educational organization in the United States, established as a result of an Act of Congress in 1993 with the purpose to commemorate "the deaths of over 100,000,000 victims in an unprecedented imperial communist holocaust"...
, at which he served as a chairman. - Katherine EsauKatherine EsauKatherine Esau was a German-American botanist.She was born in Yekaterinoslav, Russian Empire to a family of Mennonites of German descent. After the Revolution her family moved to Germany, and then to California, where she achieved her doctorate in 1931...
– botanist - George GamowGeorge GamowGeorge Gamow , born Georgiy Antonovich Gamov , was a Russian-born theoretical physicist and cosmologist. He discovered alpha decay via quantum tunneling and worked on radioactive decay of the atomic nucleus, star formation, stellar nucleosynthesis, Big Bang nucleosynthesis, cosmic microwave...
– astrophysicist - Taras HunczakTaras HunczakTaras Hunczak is a historian and professor emeritus at Rutgers University in Newark, New Jersey. He lectures in Ukrainian, Russian, and East-European history.Dr. Hunczak has written extensively on Ukrainian history, the twentieth century in particular....
– historian (Ph. D./Professor) and media adviser; expert in the East European history and languages - Jane LubchencoJane LubchencoDr. Jane Lubchenco is a Ukrainian-American environmental scientist and marine ecologist. On March 19, 2009, she was confirmed by the U.S. Senate as the first woman to serve as the administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration .While performing duties as head of NOAA, Dr...
- environmental scientist and marine ecologist, head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric AdministrationNational Oceanic and Atmospheric AdministrationThe National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration , pronounced , like "noah", is a scientific agency within the United States Department of Commerce focused on the conditions of the oceans and the atmosphere...
. - Anna NagurneyAnna NagurneyAnna Nagurney is a Ukrainian-American mathematician, economist, educator and author in the field of Operations Management. Nagurney holds the John F. Smith Memorial Professorship in the Isenberg School of Management at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst....
- mathematician, economist, educator and author in the field of Operations Management; holds the John F. Smith Memorial Professorship in the Isenberg School of ManagementIsenberg School of ManagementThe Isenberg School of Management is the business school at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Founded in 1947 as the School of Business Administration, Isenberg assumed its present name in 1997 in honor of alumnus and benefactor Eugene M. Isenberg...
at the University of MassachusettsUniversity of MassachusettsThis article relates to the statewide university system. For the flagship campus often referred to as "UMass", see University of Massachusetts Amherst...
at Amherst. - Simon RamoSimon RamoSimon "Si" Ramo is an American physicist, engineer, and business leader. He led development of microwave and missile technology and is sometimes known as the father of the intercontinental ballistic missile...
– physicist (Russian – Ukrainian) - Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper, astronaut and a naval officer.
- Michael J. YaremchukMichael J. YaremchukDr. Michael Yaremchuk is a craniofacial plastic surgeon practicing in Boston, Massachusetts. Chief of Craniofacial Surgery at the Massachusetts General Hospital and a Clinical Professor of Surgery at the Harvard Medical School, his private practice currently resides at the renowned Boston Center. Dr...
famous plastic surgeon
Writers and Journalists
- Steve DitkoSteve DitkoStephen J. "Steve" Ditko is an American comic book artist and writer best known as the artist co-creator, with Stan Lee, of the Marvel Comics heroes Spider-Man and Doctor Strange....
– comic book writer - Chuck PalahniukChuck PalahniukCharles Michael "Chuck" Palahniuk is an American transgressional fiction novelist and freelance journalist. He is best known for the award-winning novel Fight Club, which was later made into a film directed by David Fincher and starring Brad Pitt, Edward Norton, and Helena Bonham Carter...
– famous transgressive fiction novelist and freelance journalist. - Mike RoykoMike RoykoMichael "Mike" Royko was a newspaper columnist in Chicago, who won the 1972 Pulitzer Prize for commentary...
- journalist (his father's Ukrainian).
Other
- Semion MogilevichSemion MogilevichSemion Yudkovich Mogilevich is a Ukrainian-born organized crime boss, believed by European and United States federal law enforcement agencies to be the "boss of bosses" of most Russian Mafia syndicates in the world...
alleged "boss of bosses" of most Russian Mafia syndicates, Semion Mogilevich WikipediaSemion MogilevichSemion Yudkovich Mogilevich is a Ukrainian-born organized crime boss, believed by European and United States federal law enforcement agencies to be the "boss of bosses" of most Russian Mafia syndicates in the world... - Vasyl AvramenkoVasyl AvramenkoVasyl Kyrylovych Avramenko was a Ukrainian actor, dancer, choreographer, balletmaster, director, and film producer, credited with spreading Ukrainian folk dance across the world...
– dancer/choreographer - Juliya ChernetskyJuliya ChernetskyJuliya Chernetsky , is a television personality best known for her popularity on the music-themed network Fuse, formerly known as MuchMusicUSA. She is best known by her stage name Mistress Juliya. She hosted the heavy metal-themed program Uranium and a call-in and e-mail advice program called Slave...
– television personality - John DemjanjukJohn DemjanjukJohn Demjanjuk is a retired Ukrainian-American auto worker who gained notoriety after being accused numerous times of Holocaust-related war crimes....
– retired auto worker/war crimes defendant - Edward DmytrykEdward DmytrykEdward Dmytryk was an American film director who was amongst the Hollywood Ten, a group of blacklisted film industry professionals who served time in prison for being in contempt of Congress during the McCarthy-era 'red scare'.-Early life:Dmytryk was born in Grand Forks, British Columbia, Canada,...
(1908–1999), film director who was amongst the Hollywood 10, a group of blacklisted film industry professionals who served time in prison for being in contempt of Congress during the McCarthy era red scare - Viktoria FoxxViktoria FoxxViktoria Foxx is an Ukrainian-American celebutante, media personality, businesswoman, model, politician and former beauty queen. Foxx was the first woman to win Miss Myspace USA.-Career:...
– beauty queen and socialite