The Texas Chapter of the Kosciuszko Foundation was founded in 1993 to support the activities of the Kosciuszko Foundation, but also to become directly involved in cultural exchange between two friendly peoples. We work with the Slavic Studies program at Rice University to bring a Polish scholar to Houston every year to enrich our local intellectual community in Polish arts and letters. We sponsor two young people every year who spend a summer in Poland studying the Polish language and culture. In addition, we support numerous other cultural activities in Texas.

The past presidents of our Chapter who have dedicated their time and worked tirelessly to ensure our organization’s success are: Edward Burdzinski J.D., the first president who had the vision and energy to establish the chapter in 1993. Mr. Burdzinski developed the organization by introducing Debutante’s Ball at the Warwick Hotel, lectures, piano recitals, author’s evenings, polish businessmen meetings on behalf of the Rotary Club of Houston, as well as starting the Summer Studies Program. Prof. Marek Kimmel, the second president, expanded the scope of the with bi-lingual poetry reading (organized in celebration of the selection of the poet Wislawa Szymborska for the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1996). The leadership of the third president, Mr. Wojciech Kic, produced the first Chopin Piano concert in 1998 (held in the beautiful Moores Opera House of the University of Houston). The fourth president was Prof. Waldemar Priebe, whose vision was to expand the concert to become one of the major annual piano performances in Texas. The fifth president was Prof. Joseph Kotarba, who first established our long-lasting relationship with the Moores School of Music and has worked to strengthened cultural ties between American and Polish people.