Biography

Karen Ryan serves as Dean of the School of Liberal Arts at Merrimack College in North Andover, Massachusetts. She was Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Stetson University in DeLand, Florida 2012-2017. Previously, she was Professor of Russian Language and Literature at the University of Virginia and served there as Chair of the Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures, as Associate Dean of the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, and as Interim Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. She earned her PhD in Slavic Languages and Literatures at the University of Michigan in 1986 and her BA in Russian and Soviet Studies from Cornell University in 1980. Dr. Ryan has taught Russian language, literature, and culture at the University of Virginia, Iowa State University, and Williams College. Her research focuses on Russian literary satire of the twentieth century and she has published extensively on Russian satire, including the books "Contemporary Russian Satire: A Genre Study" and "Stalin in Russian Satire, 1917-1991."