Russia | Washington State Magazine | Washington State University

Spring 2003

Letters from Vladivostok

“This is the best research project I’ve ever had. It’s invaded my life in a very good way.” So says Birgitta Ingemanson, associate professor of Russian at Washington State University, about her current project transcribing and editing more than 2,100 letters written by an American woman, Eleanor Pray, in Vladivostok between 1894 and 1930.

The collection consists primarily of letters written by Pray and her sister-in-law, but also includes hundreds of photos taken by Pray of Vladivostok before the Russian Revolution and World War I. The array of letters and photographs provides glimpses of the city’s culture, politics, and merchant life from an American woman’s … » More …

Fall 2002

From Russia with Love: Cougar matryoshka dolls a big hit

Sue Senner’s (’80 Comm.) travels occasionally take her to places like Chornobyl, Ukraine, and Moscow, Russia. She is a project manager for the International Nuclear Safety Program (INSP) at Battelle Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland.

For several years, she has provided communications support to international nuclear safety groups. She also manages a safety project for the Bilibino Nuclear Power Plant in northeastern Russia, currently helping staff there coordinate an emergency preparedness exercise for later this summer.

“We want to assure that appropriate procedures are in place and staff are trained to handle an emergency situation,” she said in May. Ultimately, she said, “We’re working … » More …