Timothy Frye

Timothy Frye (Ph.D., Columbia, 1997) is the Marshall D. Shulman Professor of Post-Soviet Foreign Policy. Professor Frye grew up in Utica, New York, received a B.A. in Russian language and literature from Middlebury College, an M.I.A. from Columbia's School of International and Public Affairs, and a Ph.D. in political science from Columbia. His research and teaching interests are in comparative politics and political economy with a focus on the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe.  He is the author of five books, most recently, Weak Strongman: The Limits of Power in Putin’s Russia and Workplace Politics: How Politicians and Employers Subvert Elections and regularly teaches courses on autocracy, democracy, and the rule of law.   A member of the Scholars Council at the Kluge Center at the US Library of Congress, and the Advisory Council at the Kennan Institute in Washington D.C., Professor Frye directed the Harriman Institute from 2010-2016, chaired the Political Science Department from 2016-2019, a co-directed a research center at the Higher School of Economics in Moscow from 2011-2022.  He is currently conducting research on public opinion in Russia and Ukraine toward the war.