Simon Greenwold
Why did you choose Northwestern?
Northwestern offered an innovative program, great faculty, and competitive funding.
How would you describe your research and/or work to a non-academic audience? What was it then and/or what is it now?
I studied the experience of Russian culture coming out from the totalitarian burdens of Stalinism and figuring out how to focus on the every day and not the utopian. Although I am not an academic, I use my studies of Russian literary greats, philosophies, and world views, to inform my relationships and approaches in work and life.
Tell us who or what inspired your research and/or work.
I was inspired to start studying Russia and Russian as I started college at the end of the Cold War. In graduate school, Andrew Wachtel and Gary Saul Morson were my mentors and coaches. Andrew was later my dean at TGS, when I was his associate dean. I also had the pleasure of Dwight McBride's mentorship at TGS and Sarah Mangelsdorf's at Weinberg.
What are you most proud of in your career to date?
My adaptability and ability to think strategically.
Tell us about a current achievement or something you're working on that excites you.
How alternative credentials and online degrees help with workforce acceleration, access to education for diverse populations, help upward social mobility.
What advice would you give your younger self or someone considering a similar path?
Don't worry about what comes next.