Abbott Gleason is Keeney Professor of History Emeritus at Brown University, where he has served as Chairman of the History Department and Director of the Watson Institute from 2000-2001. In 1995 he served as president of the American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies. In 1980-1982 he was Director of the Kennan Institute for Advanced Russian Studies at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington DC and was subsequently chosen Chairman of its Board Advisers.