1927 his department was officially renamed to "department of sociology", and in 1930 the department gained authorization to issue degrees in sociology. In 1930 the Polish Institute of Sociology began publishing the first Polish sociological journal, Przegląd Socjologiczny (The Sociological Review), with Znaniecki its chief editor from 1930 to 1939. That year the Institute organized Poland's first academic sociologists' conference. Due to his role as founder of so many of its building blocks, Znaniecki is considered as one of the fathers of sociology in Poland. Late U.S. career Keeping in touch with American sociologists, Znaniecki lectured as a visiting professor at Columbia University in New York in 1932–34 and during the summer of 1939. That summer ended the Polish stage of his career, as the German invasion of Poland and the start of World War II prevented his return to Poland. He was already aboard a ship bound for Poland when his travel was cut short in the United Kingdom. He still briefly considered returning to Poland, where his wife and daughter remained; however, faced with the occupation of Poland, he returned to the United States in 1940. His wife and daughter, after being briefly imprisoned in a Nazi concentration camp, joined him. With help from American colleagues, Znaniecki obtained an extension of his appointment at Columbia University through mid-1940. He then moved to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and in 1942 obtained American citizenship, allowing him to transition from a visiting to a regular professorship. He taught at the University of Illinois until his retirement, deciding not to return to the communist People's Republic of Poland, established in the aftermath of World War II (despite the offer of a chair at Poznań University). In 1950 he retired, becoming a professor emeritus. He was 44th President of the American Sociological Association (for 1954). His presidential address, "Basic Problems of Contemporary Sociology," was delivered on 8 September 1954 at the Association's annual meeting and was later published in the American Sociological Review. He died on 23 March 1958 in Champaign, Illinois. The cause of death was arteriosclerosis. His funeral took place on 26 March, and he was buried at Roselawn Champaign Cemetery . Family In 1906 Znaniecki married a fellow Polish student at the University of Geneva, Emilia Szwejkowska. They had a son, poet and writer Juliusz Znaniecki, born 1908. Znaniecki's wife Emilia died in 1915. Next year Znaniecki married