Dr. Russell Martin, associate professor of history at Westminster College, was recently elected president of the Association for the Study of Eastern Christianity and Culture, an international scholarly organization. In addition to this two-year position, Martin has had many other recent accomplishments.

This year at the annual Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies in Washington, D.C., Martin served as chair of the panel "The Creation of Medieval and Early Modern Biography," and discussant for the panel "History Writing in Muscovite Rus': Sources and Methodologies."

For the Early Slavic Studies Association, Martin acts as the chair of the Book Award Committee.

Martin has also published articles in several publications. With Donald Ostrowski (Harvard University), he wrote the introduction and co-edited an issue of the journal Russian Studies in History, titled "A. A. Zimin on the Slovo o polku Igoreve." In the journal Manuscripta (vol. 50, no. 1), Martin contributed the article "Muscovite Royal Weddings: A Descriptive Inventory of Manuscript Holdings in the Treasure Room of the Russian State Archive of Ancient Acts, Moscow." He also wrote "Political Folkways and Praying for the Dead in Muscovy: Reconsidering Edward Keenan's "Slight' Against the Church" for the Canadian Slavonic Papers, and "Death and Dying: The Early Period (up to Peter I)" in the Supplement to the Modern Encyclopedia of Russian and Soviet History, vol. 7.
Martin appeared on A&E Biography in a broadcast on Ivan the Terrible as an expert on the controversial ruler. He is the co-founder of the Muscovite Biographical Database, a Russian-American computerized register based in Moscow of early modern Russian notables. The Neville Island, Pa., native is not only fluent in Russian, but also reads Old Church Slavonic/Russian, French, German, Latin, and Polish.
Martin continues to translate from Russian to English the official webpage of Her Imperial Highness, Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna, the legitimate heiress to the vacant Russian throne. Translations are available at www.imperialhouse.ru.
Martin, who has been with Westminster College since 1996, earned his bachelor's degree from the University of Pittsburgh, and his master's and Ph.D. from Harvard University.
Contact Martin at (724) 946-6254 or by e-mail martinre@westminster.edu for more information.

Dr. Russell Martin