Known to everyone as Bogdan, Boguslaw Nowakowski was born in 1928 in Ostrowiec Swietokrzyski, Poland. He fought in the Polish partisans in World War II. Captured and sentenced at 17 to a group execution, he was the only one to escape. After liberation, he attended the Polish Technical College in Esslingen, Germany and in summer of 1949 he immigrated to the United States. He attended the University of Connecticut where he received a degree in civil engineering. He was a member of Chi Epsilon, a national civil engineering honor society, and of Tau Beta Phi fraternity for academic excellence. Bogdan worked for the Connecticut Department of Transportation for 30 years as a supervising civil engineer and received numerous awards.
Bogdan was an unusually gifted and giving person and a cornerstone of the Polish American community. Bogdan was admired for the financial assistance and moral support he extended to new arrivals from Poland. He also was known for maintaining scrupulous financial accounts and for protesting waste and unnecessary expenditures. He was a treasurer of several organizations and committees, including the Polish American Congress, Committee to Aid the Victims of the Polish Flood.
He was a member of the Solidarity International of Connecticut and volunteered his engineering skills to oversee the construction of the Popieluszko Monument in New Britain's Walnut Hill Park. He was a member of the Kosciuszko Foundation, Pilsudski Institute, and Polish Falcons of America.
An engaging conversationalist, Bogdan enjoyed discussing Poland's history and world politics. Bridge and skiing were also pastimes. He attended numerous events sponsored by the Polish Studies Program at Central Connecticut State University, often walking to and from campus from his nearby home. On occasions too numerous to count, the Nowakowski home was opened to guest speakers for post-lecture refreshments and conversation. Many speakers fondly recall the Nowakowski's gracious hospitality and enthusiasm for their guests.
The family of the late Boguslaw Nowakowski, Mrs. Alexandra Nowakowska and her daughters, Maria Kozikowski, Kathy Soucy and Anna Petrisko, endowed the Nowakowski Conversations about Poland in memory of their beloved husband and father.
The first Nowakowski Conversations with Adam Michnik, Gazeta Wyborcza, Professor Piotr Wandycz, Yale University, Dr. John Micgiel, Columbia University, took place on March 12, 2001.
