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In Memoriam: Herbert J. Ellison, former Kennan Institute Director

Dr. Ellison directed the Kennan Institute from 1983-85, during which time he secured Title VIII funding from the U.S. Department of State and launched the Institute’s endowment campaign, the George F. Kennan Fund. He also chaired the Institute’s academic advisory council from 1998-2002.

It is with great sadness that the Kennan Institute marks the passing of Herbert J. Ellison on October 9, 2012.

Dr. Ellison directed the Kennan Institute from 1983-85, during which time he secured Title VIII funding from the U.S. Department of State and launched the Institute’s endowment campaign, the George F. Kennan Fund. He also chaired the Institute’s academic advisory council from 1998-2002.

Just as he helped shape the direction of the Kennan Institute, Dr. Ellison played pivotal roles in many other institutions of the Russian Studies field, including the American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies (AAASS), the International Research and Exchanges (IREX), and the National Bureau of Asian Research (NBR) in Seattle.

Dr. Ellison’s true home was the University of Washington, which hosts the Ellison Center for Russian, East European, and Central Asian Studies within the Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies. In his thirty years of service to the university, he was a researcher, author, educator, and mentor to many scholars who themselves are now leaders in Russian and Eurasian Studies.

More information on Dr. Ellison can be found here: http://jsis.washington.edu/faculty/ellison.shtml.

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Kennan Institute

The Kennan Institute is the premier US center for advanced research on Russia and Eurasia and the oldest and largest regional program at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. The Kennan Institute is committed to improving American understanding of Russia, Ukraine, Central Asia, the Caucasus, and the surrounding region though research and exchange.  Read more