Registration REQUIRED by 4pm on September 30, 2026 in order to attend this event.
As we mark the 80th anniversary of the Harriman Institute, we celebrate the life and enduring legacy of Marshall D. Shulman—scholar, teacher, diplomat, mentor, and institution builder, whose imprint on Columbia University and on the field of Russian and Soviet studies remains profound.
A member of Russian Institute’s inaugural class, Shulman graduated in 1948. He later returned to Columbia as a distinguished scholar and served several terms as Director of the Institute. His close and consequential relationship with Averell and Pamela Harriman was instrumental in securing the endowment that led to the Russian Institute’s renaming as the Harriman Institute. His vision, leadership, and determination helped establish the intellectual and institutional foundations that have sustained the Institute for generations.
In this special anniversary program, Robert Legvold, Daniel Fried, Cynthia Roberts, and Jack Snyder will reflect on Shulman’s remarkable career and the many ways his influence continues to shape scholarship, diplomacy, and the Harriman community. Drawing on their own experiences with Shulman, they will discuss his contributions to understanding Soviet foreign policy, nuclear arms control, Track II diplomacy, and the education of scholars and policymakers. The event will also feature a listening session with excerpts from Shulman’s oral history, offering the audience an opportunity to hear his own voice and recollections of a career spanning scholarship, government service, diplomacy, and the evolution of the U.S.-Soviet relationship. These recordings will provide a personal complement to the reflections of our panelists and bring Shulman’s distinctive perspective directly into the conversation.
At the heart of the conversation will be a celebration of Shulman’s distinctive intellectual and personal legacy: his insistence on looking beyond conventional assumptions, his determination to understand the perspectives of others, his commitment to connecting scholarship with policy, and his generosity as a teacher and mentor.
Participants
- Daniel Fried, Weiser Family Distinguished Fellow at the Atlantic Council; SIPA/Russian Institute ’77
- Robert Legvold, Marshall D. Shulman Professor Emeritus, Columbia University; Director of the Harriman Institute (1986–1992)
- Cynthia Roberts, Professor of Political Science at Hunter College, CUNY; Senior Research Scholar at the Institute of War & Peace Studies; Adjunct Professor of International Affairs at Columbia University; Harriman Institute ’92
- Jack Snyder, Robert and Renée Belfer Professor of International Relations; former Acting Director of the Harriman Institute at Columbia University; Russian Institute ’78