A New RASA President Elected for 2025–2026
Sergei Erofeev
At its annual meeting in December 2024, the American association of Russian-speaking scholars (RASA) elected Sergei Erofeev, Rutgers University, USA, as its new president for the 2025–2026 term. A sociologist, Sergei Erofeev specializes in studying state-society relations, the new Russian emigration, and the cultural dimensions of mafia-style governance. In the past, he served as Vice-Rector of the Higher School of Economics in Moscow, Dean of International Programs at the European University at St. Petersburg, and founding director of the Center for the Sociology of Culture at Kazan Federal University, where he was also responsible for international relations within the rectorate.
The RASA presidency is limited to two years. During the upcoming term, in addition to its continuing tasks—such as the annual academic conference, the George Gamow Award, and support for the publication T-Invariant—RASA will focus on strengthening its interaction with colleagues in Europe and Eurasia. A growing number of academic refugees from Russia have joined RASA in these regions. Along with its expanding geographic reach, the association is experiencing a significant influx of social sciences and humanities scholars.
For the first time, RASA has two vice presidents: chemist Anna Krylov from California and economist Andrey Yakovlev from Germany. Andrey Yakovlev’s priority will be fostering collaboration between RASA and various initiatives and groups within the renewed Russian-speaking academic diaspora in Europe and Eurasia.
Democratic procedures ensure the sustainable development of the association, and the two-year presidential term is a key component of this process.
Former Presidents of the American Russian-Speaking Academic Association (RASA):
- Igor Efimov (2009–2011)
- Vladimir Shiltsev (2011–2013)
- Artem Oganov (2013–2014)
- Nikolai Vasilyev (2014–2016)
- Valery Fokin (2016–2018)
- Alexander Kabanov (2018–2020)
- Tatiana Bronich (2020–2022)
- Elena Atochina-Vasserman (2022–2024)