Renee Stillings, Director
Renee first visited the Soviet Union in 1990 to study at MGU after graduating from Boston University with a B.S. in Biomedical Engineering. After working at a technical translation company in Boston, she returned to Moscow in 1992 for permanent residence until 1998. During that time she worked in the Russian financial markets and finally founded The School of Russian and Asian Studies as well as co-founded Alinga Consulting Group. She has traveled extensively in and continues to travel to Russia, Central Asia, and the Baltic countries. She is a board member of the US-Russia Chamber of Commerce of New England and active in several Russia-oriented business and academic organizations.

Josh Wilson, Asst. Director and General Editor
Josh first came to Russia in 2003 as an SRAS student after earning an M.A. in Theatre and a B.A. in History from Idaho State University. He has lived in Russia ever since. After working as an English teacher, writer, and translator, Josh was hired by SRAS to assist in developing several new initiatives. Josh now manages the SRAS website, assists in program development and leads our Translation Abroad Program. He is also the editor of the SRAS newsletter, primary author of The Library, and editor-in-chief for Vestnik: The Journal of Russian and Asian Studies. In addition, he serves as the Communications Director of Alinga Consulting Group, and General Editor for the US-Russia Chamber of Commerce of New England.

Lisa Horner, Program Development, Student Relations
Lisa, to the perplexity of her German-rooted family, graduated from Reed College with a B.A. in Russian Literature. After attending SRAS's Translation Abroad Program, she went on to accept positions with SRAS and its partner company Alinga Consulting Group now held by Erin Decker (below). Lisa was promoted within SRAS and is leading our student and university relations efforts, helping to develop new programs and partnerships, and to ensure that student feedback is collected and used to help improve our programs. She studied previously at Smolny Institute in St. Petersburg and is an avid fan of badminton.

Erin Decker, Moscow Coordinator
Erin holds a B.A. in Political Science and International Studies from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. In 2009, she participated in SRAS's Translation Abroad Program and afterwards accepted a position serving at once as the in-house translator for SRAS partner company Alinga Consulting Group and with SRAS coordinating activities for Moscow-based students and assisting in editing and contributing to the SRAS website. She studied previously at St. Petersburg's Herzen State Pedagogical University and enjoys translating so much she does it for fun – her current side project is an attempt to translate some of the poet Vladimir Mayakovsky's work into English.

Alexander Ruchkin, Advisor, Program Oversight
Dr. Ruchkin has been the Director of the GRINT Center for Education and Culture since 1995. He has a doctoral degree in history from Moscow State University and has published several books on history. Fluent in English, he is a member of the Board of Directors of the Russian American Cultural Heritage Center in New York and is co-sponsor of the project “Promotion and Marketing of International Education in Russia.” Dr. Ruchkin serves as an advisor to SRAS and oversees our Russian Studies Program at GRINT.

Kendje Aitikeeva, Advisor, Bishkek Coordinator, Contributing Writer
Kendje holds an MA in Linguistics from Kyrgyz Humanitarian University and a BA in Teaching English from Kyrgyz English College. She is also a certified teacher of Russian as a Foreign Language. She has traveled extensively, including to the United States, and enjoys meeting people participating in cross-cultural projects. Kendje co-founded and has served as the director of the London School of Bishkek since 1998 and has been involved in education in the former Soviet Union since 1986. She now serves as an advisor to SRAS on Central Asia, oversees and manages our Central Asian programs, and contributes to our site and newsletter.

Elena Varshavskaya, Advisor, Program Oversight
Elena holds a Ph.D. in art history from the Institute of Fine Art at the State Academy of Art in Moscow. Having worked for the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg as a researcher and lecturer for over two decades, Elena moved to the US where she now teaches art history at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) and Eastern Connecticut State University. Her course offerings embrace European, Russian and Asian art with the emphasis on the early 20th century Russian art and Japanese ukiyo-e woodblock prints. A published author and an exhibition curator, at SRAS Elena organizes and teaches the program The Arts in Russia hosted by the Hermitage each summer.

Natalia Rostova, Consultant
Born in Samara and raised in Moscow, Natalia worked from 1992-2004 as Senior Manager of the International Students' Office at Moscow State University. She graduated from the Ufa Aviation Institute (Bashkiria). Fluent in English, Natalia loves to travel and has visited several foreign countries both as a representative of the university and for pleasure. She particularly enjoys meeting new people and the opportunity to discuss a wide range of topics with them. Natalia works as a consultant to SRAS for our Moscow programs as well as occasionally participates in marketing projects.

Sergei Pshenitsyn, St. Petersburg Student Coordinator
Sergei holds a Ph.D. (кандидат наук) in Linguistics from St. Petersburg State University and a MA in Special Applications of Linguistics from Birmingham University in England. He has taught courses in translation studies and linguistics. His main research interest lies in the cultural and communicative aspects of translation and interpreting and American/Russian cross-cultural studies. He is also a Junior Faculty Development Program (Fulbright) Fellow and spent a year at George Washington University in Washington, DC. Sergei is coordinating SRAS student services in St. Petersburg and will be contributing to the development of this site.

Svetlana Volik, St. Petersburg Internship Coordinator
Svetlana has her Masters in the History of Fine Arts from the St. Petersburg Academy of Fine Arts. She continues her post-graduate studies there,  focusing on the early period of German Expressionism. Svetlana is very active in the museum and cultural life in St. Petersburg and since 1995 has been working as a tour guide. She has developed several specialized tours focused on art, history, and literature. Svetlana coordinates our internship placements in St. Petersburg. 

Andrei Nesterov, Contributing Writer, Coordinator
Andrei Nesterov has reported on political and social issues for the Russian press as well as American outlets such as Russian Life, Worldpress.org, and Triangle Free Press. He has travelled Russia extensively and penned many stories on the "real Russia" which lies beyond the capital and major cities. Andrei graduated from Ural State University (journalism) and Irkutsk State Linguistic University (English). He studied public policy and journalism at Duke University on a Muskie Fellowship and went on to study TESOL and teach Russian at West Virginia University. He is currently working on an MA from St. Petersburg State in International Relations. Andrei contributes news, feature stories, and language resources to the SRAS site, and is an overall linguistics and research resource.

NAFSA: Association of International Educators promotes the exchange of students and scholars to and from the United States. The members share a belief that international educational exchange advances learning and scholarship, builds respect among different peoples and encourages constructive leadership in a global community. 

AATSEEL: American Association of Teachers of Slavic and East European Languages exists to advance the study and promote the teaching of Slavic and East European languages, literatures, and cultures on all educational levels

ASEEES: The Association for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies (ASEEES), a nonprofit, non-political, scholarly society, is the leading private organization in the world dedicated to the advancement of knowledge about the former Soviet Union (including Eurasia) and Eastern and Central Europe. ASEEES, known as the American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies until 2010, supports teaching, research, and publication relating to the peoples and territories within this area.

USRCCNE: The U.S.-Russia Chamber of Commerce of New England, Inc. (USRCCNE) is a non-profit business organization for companies and professional individuals involved with economic activity in Russia and the other republics of the former Soviet Union.

SRAS Director, Renee Stillings, is also a co-founder and partner of Alinga Consulting Group, a Moscow-based company active in the American Chamber of Commerce in Russia and the Association of European Businesses.