Architecture Professor Emeritus Jerzy Staniszkis as portrayed in an oil portrait by Fred Bidigari.

Once the talent to both learn and teach is there, it's impossible to take away – at least in the case of Architecture Professor Emeritus Jerzy Staniszkis, who served on the Architecture faculty from 1961 to 1987.

Today at age 94, Staniszkis is actively continuing his professional life in Warsaw, Poland. The nature of his spirit can be encapsulated in one quote. When students asked for permission to perform a certain task, Staniszkis responded, "Anything is possible!"

Born in Poland, he served as a second lieutenant in World War II. Following the war, he was involved in the rebuilding of Poland, and designed many public buildings. He came to the United States in 1961 to escape the oppression of communism.

When Staniszkis arrived in the U.S., he already had extensive professional and academic experience. Over his lifetime, he has won numerous awards worldwide, and continues to produce award-winning work.

While at UDM, where an exhibition hall is named after him, Staniszkis taught urban, interior, and exterior design as well as visual communication. In addition, Staniszkis created the concept of annual student exchanges with the Architecture Department of Warsaw University of Technology, which continue to this day.

Jerzy Staniszkis, circa 1975, from the publication, "Chalk Walks."

Pat Martinico, former assistant dean of Architecture, says, "The previous Dean of Architecture, Bruno Leon, once told me that when the faculty of Architecture was considering inviting Jerzy to join the School in Detroit, they thought that because he was a few years older, he would be a stabilizing, mature influence. They discovered they were wrong. He turned out to be a greater risk taker, more innovative, more open to unusual ideas than the younger members of the faculty."

After retirement, Staniszkis and his wife retired to Bellevue, Washington, but moved permanently to Warsaw after the 1989 fall of communism. Once re-established in Poland, Staniszkis continued to design and take part in competitions.

One award led to the creation of a monument to the Home Army, unveiled in Warsaw in 1999 and consecrated by Pope John Paul II.
 Several years ago, an exhibition in Warsaw presenting his lifetime achievements opened on Staniszkis' 90th birthday.

More recently, Staniszkis received a gold medal from the Olympic Committee for his participation in the 1944 Olympics. Though the official games were canceled due to war, he and a few other Polish officers organized special games in the P.O.W. camps for the internees. He received his medal for the poster design.

This winter, while in Poland as a Fulbright Scholar, Professor of Architecture Tony Martinico visited Staniszkis. "Despite a few problems with physical mobility, he is still practicing architecture," Martinico says. "He and two colleagues recently published a proposal for seven pedestrian bridges spanning the Vistula River in Warsaw. Jerzy seems vital and productive and very involved in world and local events."

Dean Stephen Vogel best summarizes Staniszkis, who acted as both Vogel's design instructor and thesis advisor: "He was the most passionate advisor I ever had. He was famous among students for his 'chalk talks,' where he illustrated lectures on the blackboard as he spoke," Vogel says.

"This drawing ability has been immortalized in an issue of Dichotomy Magazine, (a School of Architecture student-produced journal), called 'Chalk Talks.' His energy is unlimited, and that is why he is so vital today, and still practicing into his 90s."