Introduction

Qualifications

• Ph.D. in Political Science, The Pennsylvania State University, 1983
• M.A. in Political Science, The Pennsylvania State University, 1976
• B.A. in Political Science and Russian Language and Literature, The Pennsylvania State University, 1974

 Awards:

• Phi Beta Kappa, 1974
• Phi Kappa Phi, 1974
• Zayed University Provost’s Research Fellowship Award, 2013-14

Brief Biographical Bits:

Dr. Frank Cibulka was born in Prague, Czechoslovakia in 1953. Following the Soviet-led invasion of his country in August 1968 he went into exile in West Germany and subsequently in the United States where he became a citizen in 1974. He received his education at the Pennsylvania State University, obtaining a Ph.D. in Political Science in 1983 with specialty in Soviet and East European Studies. During 1980-1983 he taught as an Instructor at the Pennsylvania State University.

From 1983 to 2001 he was employed in the Department of Political Science at the National University of Singapore, reaching the rank of Senior Lecturer. During 1992-93 he served as an Acting Coordinator of the European Studies Program.

Following the collapse of European communism, Dr. Cibulka has been invited to contribute to the new administration of President Vaclav Havel and in 1992 was appointed as an Honorary Consul of Czechoslovakia in Singapore and, subsequently he served during 1993-1996 as an Honorary Consul of the Czech Republic in Singapore.

Between 1987 and 1996 and again in 2003, Dr. Cibulka had undertaken many active research trips to the Philippines and eventually developed an expertise on the country’s affairs.  During 2002 to 2004 he was elected as academic visitor at Oxford University as a Senior Associate Member of St. Antony’s College. During 2004-2016, and since 2017, he has been teaching at Zayed University, both in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences and in the University College. During December 2019-January 2020, he spent several weeks as an invited Foreign Visiting Scholar at China International Affairs University (CFAU) in Beijing. He has been serving as the Chair of the International Studies Department (ISD) since August 2020.

His main research areas are Politics of East Central Europe, Religion in East Central Europe, Soviet/Russian Politics, Post-Communist Transition, and the Politics and Foreign Relations of the Philippines.

Membership in Professional Organizations:

• Association for Slavic, East European and Eurasian Studies (ASEEES); formerly the American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies (AAASS)
• Association for Asian Studies (AAS)
• Middle Eastern Studies Association (MESA)