Sergei Khrushchev, noted historian and son of the former Soviet leader, to speak at Fairfield University's Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts

October 23, 2003

Sergei Khrushchev, a noted historian, author and son of the former Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev, will deliver "Russia and United States: Cultural Differences and Similarities" on Wednesday, Nov. 19, at Fairfield University's Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts. The 7:30 p.m. lecture will be followed by a book signing and a chance to meet the author.

Dr. Khrushchev, senior fellow at The Thomas J. Watson Institute for International Studies at Brown University, will discuss how societal differences shaped Russian-American relations both culturally and politically. He has written extensively about the history of the Cold War and turning points in the relationship between the super powers during the Khrushchev, Eisenhower and Kennedy eras. He also edited several volumes of his father's memoirs.

Dr. Khrushchev's lecture is part of the Quick Center's ongoing Russian Arts and Letters Festival. The festival events also include a performance by the Moscow Festival Ballet, a Russian film series, an exhibit of Russian stage and costume design and a Russian-themed performance by The Amadeus Trio.

"The major goal of the festival is to bring a higher level of understanding and global significance to these important contributions to culture," said Deborah Sommers, the Quick Center's director of programming. "The Russian Festival will provide a forum to show the impact the Russian culture has had on the global stage - artistically, culturally, historically and politically."

The festival is sponsored in part by the Connecticut Commission on Arts, Tourism, Culture, History and Film. The lecture is co-sponsored by the Russian and Eastern European Studies Program, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary on campus.

The program's director, David McFadden, Ph.D., called Sergei Khrushchev a serious political scientist with an important perspective on the broad issues of Russian-American relations and his father's work. Some historians now contend the elder Khrushchev helped pave the way for the modern Russian society.

"There's a constant evaluation and re-evaluation of Nikita Khrushchev," McFadden said. "Khrushchev has become much more important. It's more than just remembering him for the Cuban Missile Crisis or pounding his shoe at the United Nations. He was a very complex individual."

An award-winning researcher, Dr. Khrushchev focuses his study on the former Soviet Union's transition from a centralized to a decentralized society, as well as its transformation from a central to a market economy. Among his interests are the creation of a criminal society in Russia and the history of Soviet missile and space development, in which he played an active role from 1958 through 1968.

Dr. Khrushchev has been a senior fellow at Brown since 1996 and he was a senior visiting scholar at the Watson Institute for five years prior to that. He has also served as a fellow at the Institute of Politics, John F. Kennedy School Government at Harvard University.

Dr. Khrushchev has first-hand knowledge of much of what he researches. He spent nearly 25 years at Moscow's Control Computer Institute, rising to the position of first deputy director in charge of research, and he was an engineer and deputy section head in charge of guidance systems with the Soviet government's missile and space program.

Dr. Khrushchev's work included cruise missiles for submarines, military and research spacecraft, moon vehicles and the "Proton," the world's largest space booster. He is a past recipient of the Soviet Union's prestigious Lenin Prize, one of many awards he won for his research in space and computer science.

In the late 1960s, Dr. Khrushchev spent three years editing the memoirs of his father, the former Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union. Nikita Khrushchev led the Soviet Union from 1957 to 1964, a tense, critical era in U.S.-Soviet relations. The memoirs were published in the United States as "Khrushchev Remembers," "Khrushchev Remembers: Last Testament," and "Khrushchev Remembers: Tapes of Glasnost." His most recent book is 2000's "Nikita Khrushchev and the Creation of a Super Power."

Since 1989, Dr. Khrushchev has been a sought-after lecturer in the fields of Russian economics and political reform. He is a regular commentator for the American media and the author of hundreds of articles on engineering, computer science, history and economy. He holds a Soviet doctorate degree from the Ukrainian Academy of Science, a Ph.D. from the Moscow Technical University and a master's degree with distinction from the Moscow Electric Power Institute.

Tickets are $15. For tickets, call the Quick Center box office at (203) 254-4010 or 1-877-ARTS-396. For more information, visit the website, www.quickcenter.com. Media inquiries should be made to Dana Ambrosini, Fairfield University's assistant director of media relations, at (203) 254-4000, ext. 2726.

Fairfield University is a comprehensive Jesuit university that prepares undergraduate, graduate and continuing education students for leadership and service in a constantly changing world. U.S.News and World Report's 2003 "America's Best Colleges" ranks Fairfield third among universities with master's programs in the North. Approximately 5,000 undergraduate and graduate students from 37 states, 43 countries, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico are enrolled at the University's six schools. The University was founded in 1942 in the scenic shoreline community of Fairfield, Connecticut.