Heather Russell

Heather Russell, Ph.D., is a Professor in the Department of English and currently serves as the Vice Provost for Faculty Leadership and Success (FLS) in the Office of the Provost at Florida International University. In this role, she supports the Provost in all facets of the faculty life cycle. She and the FLS team provide support to academic leadership to ensure faculty have the tools and resources needed for faculty success by working to establish a culture of faculty excellence that adheres to the highest standards of collegiality, respect and integrity.

She joined FIU in 2003, and is the former dean of the School of Environment, Arts and Society in the College of Arts, Sciences & Education and former chair of FIU's Department of English. 

Professor Russell earned her Ph.D. in Literatures in English from Rutgers University and writes and teaches in the fields of African American and Caribbean Literature. In keeping with her commitment to the Humanities, she has worked with various state-based affiliates of the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and with the National Humanities Center. She was a lead scholar for the Florida Humanities Council's NEH-funded Landmarks in American History seminar Jump at the Sun: Zora Neale Hurston and her Eatonville Roots.