The Penn State Beaver Spring Faculty Speakers Series began Monday, Jan. 27, with “Romania and the Communist Regime,” a presentation given by Claudia Tanaskovic, instructor in chemistry and a native of Romania.
Her hour-long program was attended by faculty, students and staff and was followed by a 40-minute question and answer session. Tanaskovic spoke about the despair of the Romanian people under the rule of Nicolae Ceausescu, described by The New York Times as a maverick and despotic Romanian Communist leader who pursued an independent course abroad and demanded slavish subservience at home. When the country rose in rebellion, Ceausescu and his wife, Elena, were executed Dec. 25, 1989. Tanaskovic described the misery and hardships of the lives she and her family and friends endured under Ceausescu’s reign and discussed how quickly Ceausescu’s downfall came after 24 years of repression at home and bridge-building to the West.
Tanaskovic began her professional career working in Bucharest, Romania, as an assistant junior chemical engineer for the Dudesti Chemical Co. A year later, she became a senior design engineer for the Research and Design Institute for Public Works and, four years later, was promoted to manager of the Analytical Chemical Laboratory. She spent four years in that position, then moved to the United States. She began teaching at Beaver campus as an adjunct faculty member and now holds a full-time position. Tanaskovic earned a master’s degree in chemistry from the Technical University of Bucharest. She can be contacted at cct3@psu.edu or 724-773-3592.