Alumni Spotlights
Job Placements for Alumni
Assistant Professor of Russian language, University of South Alabama • Military Intelligence Office • Executive, AT&T International • Consular Fellow, US Department of State • Peace Corps Volunteer in Ukraine • Assistant, Chemonics International, Eastern Europe/Russia section • Regulatory Representative Assistant, Emergo Group (ATX) • Staff, International Monetary Fund (DC) • Immigration / International Law, Russian and Eastern European foreign national cases, Attorney • Translator / Interpreter with the US Military, Training Officer with the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) • Corporate travel specialist for a global ground transportation company • Developments finance professional with US Government (Overseas Private Investment Corporation) focus on Easter Europe / FSU
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Bianna Golodryga
BA, Russian, Eurasian and East European Studies (Summer 2000)
; recipient of 2018 UT College of Liberal Arts Pro Bene Meritis Award
Bianna Golodryga is a senior global affairs analyst and fill-in anchor for CNN based in New York. Prior to joining CNN full-time, Golodryga served as co-anchor for "CBS This Morning."
In 2017, Golodryga also joined CNN part-time as a contributor. Her expertise in financial news and Russian political affairs contributed to CNN's coverage of everything from stock market volatility, the President's historic 2018 summit with Vladimir Putin in Helsinki, to the Mueller investigation. Previously, Golodryga was the news and finance anchor for Yahoo News and before that, she co-anchored "Good Morning America's" weekend edition, as well as serving as ABC News' Business Correspondent.
Golodryga began her career in television news in 2001 as a bureau producer from the New York Stock Exchange for the cable news channel, CNBC. Prior to her career in television, Golodryga worked in the financial services sector.
Golodryga has received several awards and recognition, including the Keystone Policy Center Leadership Award, the University of Texas at Austin Pro Bene Meritis Award, and an Emmy Award for Outstanding Morning Program, Good Morning America.
Stephanie Elizondo Griest
BA Post-Soviet Studies, 1997
Stephanie is a globetrotting author from Corpus Christi. Her five award-winning books include Around the Bloc: My Life in Moscow, Beijing, and Havana; Mexican Enough; and All the Agents & Saints: Dispatches from the U.S. Borderlands. She has also written for the New York Times, Washington Post, BBC Travel, The Believer, and Oxford American. Her distinctions include a Henry Luce Scholarship to China, a Margolis Award for Social Justice Reporting, a Hodder Fellowship at Princeton, and a Lowell Thomas Travel Journalism Gold Prize. Currently Associate Professor of Creative Nonfiction at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, she has performed on five continents in capacities ranging from a Moth storyteller to a literary ambassador for the U.S. State Department. Visit her website at www.StephanieElizondoGriest.com.
Lance C. Erickson
MA, Russian, Eurasian and East European Studies (2001)
As of 2019: Assistant Cultural Affairs Officer, Public Affairs Section, U.S. Embassy Astana
First job after graduation: Ukraine Country Director, Sidvim, Inc., Kyiv, Ukraine
Previously: Vice Consul at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow (2015–17); Press Attaché, U.S. Embassy in Sofia, Bulgaria (2013–15); Assistant Director, Center for Slavic and East European Studies, The Ohio State University (2007–12); Assistant Director for Student Services, Russian and East European Institute, Indiana University (2005–07)
Brenda Gonzalez
MA, Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies (2016)
As of 2022:
Corporate Counsel for Enlivant in Chicago and was formerly a prosecutor for Cook County State’s Attorney
Previously:
Prosecutor for Cook County State's Attorney; Clerk with the Commercial Law Development Program (CLDP) at the US Department of Commerce in International Commercial Law focusing on the Balkans, Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and Moldova; Graduate, Tulane University Law School (2021); Fulbright English Teaching Assistant in Tomsk, Russia (2017–18)
Brian Selman
MA, Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies (Spring 2017)
BA, Russian Language and Culture (Spring 2014)
As of 2021: Vice Consul at the U.S. Consulate General in Mumbai, India (2019-2021)
Previously: Vice Consul at the U.S. Embassy in Warsaw (2018-19); Senior Study Abroad Advisor, Texas Tech University (2017-2018); EFL Teacher, Moscow, Russia (2014-2015)
In his own words: "After demonstrating an Advanced level in speaking/reading in Russian (3/3), I used the Professional Development Funding from CREEES to fly to Washington D.C. for an Oral Assessment with the U.S. Department of State for the Foreign Service Consular Fellows Program.
The Oral Assessment included an intense memo-writing exercise, a test of my job-knowledge, and a 75-minute interview with two current mid-level Foreign Service Officers.
After passing the exam, receiving my medical and security clearances, and receiving my required training, I served as a Russian-language Consular Fellow in Poland. After gaining a year of job experience on my Limited Non-career Appointment, I was able to secure full-time career employment with the Foreign Service as a Foreign Service Officer. Thank you CREEES for investing in me and giving me the opportunity to realize my life-long goal!"
Michelle Kelso
MA, Russian, Eurasian and East European Studies (2001)
As of 2022: Assistant Professor of Sociology and International Affairs, Georgetown University; Director, Human Services & Social Justice, Assistant Professor of Sociology and International Affairs
Previously: Directed a Romanian non-profit, the Association for Dialogue and Civic Education, which focused on tolerance and democracy building (2005–2010; and made a documentary film, "Hidden Sorrows: The Persecution of Romanian Gypsies During WWII," that has screened in seven countries, numerous film festivals, and aired on three national television channels (2005). She has also been a photo stringer for USA Today and the Associated Press.
Michelle has also consulted for the Council of Europe, USAID, non-profits, Holocaust compensation programs, as well as the Romanian government. She has been the recipient of several prestigious national awards, including two Fulbright fellowships.
Matthew G. Andersson
BA, Russian, Eurasian and East European Studies (Spring 1984)
As of 2018: President of Indigo Aerospace & CEO of Indigo Airlines (with charter service to Russia)
Previously: Consultant, Charles River Associates (Advice, Russian aviation sector, to the President, V. Putin; US State Department, Blue Ribbon Panel, Russian Telecommunications Technical Assistance Conference; Executive, AT&T International (business development and strategic investments in Moscow, Minsk, Kiev, St. Petersburg); Executive Advisor, Booz Allen Hamilton (Russian aerospace markets)
Maria Rassokhina
MA, Russian, Eurasian and East European Studies (2014)
As of 2021: Communications Assistant, Office of Innovation and Change, International Monetary Fund (Washington, DC)
Previously: Assistant, Financial Integrity Group, International Monetary Fund; Regulatory Representation Assistant for Russia and Holland, Emergo Group (Austin); Research Assistant, St. Petersburg City AIDS Center (Russia)
First job after graduation: Program Assistant, Eurasia Foundation (Washington, DC), US-Russia Social Expertise Exchange (SEE) and the US-Russia University Partnership Program (UPP)
Maria Rassokhina
MA, Russian, Eurasian and East European Studies (2014)
As of 2021: Communications Assistant, Office of Innovation and Change, International Monetary Fund (Washington, DC)
Previously: Assistant, Financial Integrity Group, International Monetary Fund; Regulatory Representation Assistant for Russia and Holland, Emergo Group (Austin); Research Assistant, St. Petersburg City AIDS Center (Russia)
First job after graduation: Program Assistant, Eurasia Foundation (Washington, DC), US-Russia Social Expertise Exchange (SEE) and the US-Russia University Partnership Program (UPP)
