With tremendous sorrow, NCEEER announces that our President, Robert T. Huber, passed away on June 7, 2011, of cancer. He was 56 years old. In his thirteen years as head of the Council, Bob was a tireless and passionate advocate for the field of Russian, Eurasian, and East European Studies. Countless of us have benefited from his professional support his generous mentoring and, most of all, his friendship.

In addition to his leadership of the Council, Bob served as a Senior Consultant for Social Science Programs to the American Councils for International Education: ACTR/ACCELS, an Affiliated Professor at the Jackson School of International Studies at the University of Washington, and Editor of Problems of Post-Communism.

Bob came to NCEEER in 1998 as a seasoned administrator. He served as Vice-President and, later, Senior Vice-President at the International Research & Exchanges Board (IREX) from 1992 to 1996, and program director of the Soviet Studies Program at the Social Science Research Council (SSRC) from 1989-1992. 

We all have benefited from the wisdom and insight that Bob accumulated during his years on Capitol Hill as a speech writer, staff director, and consultant to the U.S. House of Representatives' Committee on Foreign Affairs. Bob was a principal staffer on a number of major pieces of legislation, including the International Security Assistance Act of 1979, the International Security and Development Cooperation Acts of 1980 and 1981, the Soviet-East European Research and Training Act of 1983 (Title VIII), and several successful nuclear disarmament bills. 

Bob applied a scholar's perspective to his policy efforts. He earned his PhD in International Relations from American University in 1987 and authored several books on Soviet-American foreign policy, as well as numerous journal articles. Bob's deep love for teaching was evident in the popularity of his courses at the University of Washington and elsewhere. 

Bob led major and successful efforts to increase funding for the Title VIII Program, which supports a variety of initiatives that promote advanced research on Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. He was also able to initiate, through grants of several million dollars, a wide array of new research and training programs for American scholars, graduate students, and other professionals, as well as for their counterparts from the former Soviet Union and Central and Eastern Europe.

In addition to his professional duties, Bob was an ordained Catholic Deacon in the Archdiocese of Seattle. He devoted his time to many spiritual and charitable responsibilities, including service at St. Mary's parish in inner-city Seattle and ministerial work with the Mary Mother of God Catholic Mission in Vladivostok, Russia.

A memorial for Bob will be held at the 2011 ASEEES national convention in Washington, DC. Condolences may be directed to the NCEEER staff, to be passed along to the Huber family.