Announcing Yuri M. Zhukov as CERES Director

The Center for Eurasian, Russian and East European Studies is pleased to welcome Dr. Yuri M. Zhukov as our new Director. He looks forward to advancing the mission of CERES and building on the foundation established by his predecessors, Michael David-Fox and Angela Stent.

Dr. Zhukov, who began his work as Director over the summer, is an Associate Professor jointly appointed to the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service and the Department of Government. Until 2023, he was on the faculty of the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, as an Associate Professor of Political Science and a Research Associate Professor with the Center for Political Studies at the Institute for Social Research. During the 2023-2024 academic year, he was a Visiting Associate Professor at the Harvard Kennedy School. He earned his PhD in Government from Harvard University in 2014, his M.A. in Security Studies from Georgetown University in 2007, and his A.B. in International Relations from Brown University in 2003. 

Dr. Zhukov is a political scientist whose research examines armed conflict, political violence and repression, using geospatial data and mathematical modeling to make sense of how violence spreads and how people and institutions respond to it. Some recent publications of his include “Fratricidal Coercion in Modern War” (with Jason Lyall), “Fighting for Tyranny: State Repression and Combat Motivation” (with Arturas Rozenas and Roya Talibova), and “Near-Real Time Analysis of War and Economic Activity during Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine.” More information about Dr. Zhukov’s research can be found on his website. 

Michael David-Fox, who served as Director of CERES from 2021 – 2026, has departed to become Rector at the Institute for Human Sciences (IWM) in Vienna, Austria. He will remain connected to our program by serving on the CERES Board of Advisors.