Russell Wyland

Since coming to NEH in 1990, Russell Wyland has served in several capacities, including fourteen years as Deputy Director of the Division of Research Programs. In early 2024, Chair Shelly Lowe appointed him the Director of the NEH Office of Outreach.

During his tenure at NEH, Russ has conducted over 70 outreach workshops with colleges, universities, state humanities councils, and scholarly organizations; he has chaired over 160 peer review panels, served as the principal author of “Research Fellowships: An Evaluation of 2002-2004 Awards” (GPO, 2012), and worked closely with NEH partners, including the Library of Congress, National Science Foundation, Japan-US Friendship Commission, the Mellon Foundation, and the Trans-Atlantic Platform for Social Sciences and Humanities.

Russ received his BA in English literature from Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and MA and PhD in English literature from the Catholic University of America in Washington, DC. His scholarship focuses on late Romantic and early Victorian literature, the history of classical rhetoric in England, and the development of the periodical press during the 19th century. He has published his work in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Rhetorica, and the Victorian Periodicals Review. He received the 2000 VanArdsel Prize from the Research Society for Victorian Periodicals, and his research has been supported by the American Philosophical Society and the English-Speaking Union.

A native of Wisconsin, Russ and his spouse are longtime residents of Northern Virginia.