Dr. Bilinsky joined UD in 1961 as an assistant professor of political science (now the Department of Political Science and International Relations), becoming associate professor in 1965 and full professor in 1969. When he retired in 2002, he was awarded emeritus status.

In a 2011 speech on campus, then-Vice President Joe Biden spoke of his undergraduate years at UD, citing in particular the influence of Dr. Bilinsky and his political science colleagues Paul Dolan, LeRoy Bennett and David Ingersoll. He said they helped him understand the transformative events occurring at that time and make sense of them.

“Each in a different way instilled in me the belief that being engaged in politics was an honorable and noble undertaking and that we each had something to contribute to the public debate,” Biden said.

According to his family, one of Dr. Bilinsky’s most treasured memories was attending Vice President Biden’s Christmas party at the Naval Observatory in 2011.

Colleagues remember

Some of Dr, Bilinsky’s colleagues shared their recollections about him.

James Magee, Judge Hugh M. Morris Professor Emeritus: “Dr. Bilinsky retired from the University in 2002, roughly the same year that I was appointed chair of the department. He was a renowned Soviet and post-Soviet scholar who, from my arrival in 1976 as a young assistant professor until he retired, invariably addressed me as ‘Professor Magee.’ This was unusual, but he was a very polite and traditional European academic. He began swimming for exercise at UD’s indoor pool, where I had been swimming for years. Even in a lane next to his I was ‘Professor Magee.’ Always a gentleman.”

Joe Pika, James R. Soles Professor Emeritus: “Yaroslav was an eminent scholar of Eastern European nationalism with particular interest in the linguistic/religious foundations of Ukrainian identity. He introduced generations of UD students, including the young Joe Biden, to Soviet politics, the harsh realities of life behind the Iron Curtain and the vital importance of expanding NATO to include the new democracies that emerged after the fall of the Soviet Union. In sharp contrast to what he studied, he was a shy person who avoided interpersonal conflict at all costs. He was known for maintaining a very formal style derived from his time in European universities. Devoted to the department and his students, I recall that he was one of the few faculty members who once showed up to meet political science alumni at a Homecoming event that I had arranged. He was deeply touched when Joe Biden commented on his past classes with Dr. Bilinsky, and he treasured a picture of himself with Joe and Jill Biden at a holiday event held at Biden's vice presidential residence.”