Elise Kimerling Wirtschafter was born in France; raised in Birmingham, Alabama; and educated at Brandeis University (BA, 1977) and Columbia University (PhD, 1983). She also studied abroad at Hebrew University of Jerusalem (1974-75). She is the author of 7 single-author books and co-editor of an eighth. She has published numerous articles and book reviews in scholarly journals (in the U.S., U.K., Canada, Germany, France, and Russia) and has served on the editorial boards of Slavic Review and the Journal of Modern Russian History and Historiography. Before coming to CPP in 1987, Professor Wirtschafter taught at Oregon State University in Corvallis and UC Irvine. She has been a visiting professor at institutions of higher learning in Paris (EHESS), Moscow (Higher School of Economics National Research University), and Tübingen, Germany (as a DAAD guest professor). Professor Wirtschafter also has been the recipient of recognized fellowships and awards from the International Research and Exchanges Board (IREX), the Fulbright-Hayes Research Abroad Programs, the National Council for Soviet and East European Research, the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, and the German Academic Exchange Service. At CPP she was the first recipient of the Provost's Award for Excellence in Scholarship and Creative Activity (2011).
