Russian University President Joins John Jay Institute

The John Jay Institute today announced that Dr. Alexander Negrov has been appointed as an affiliated scholar. Dr. Negrov’s scholarly interests and expertise are in the history of Biblical interpretation, New Testament studies, and the cultural contextualization of the Bible, particularly in the areas of spiritual formation and leadership development.

“As a relatively new American citizen, I am honored to be a part of the John Jay Institute and its mission of preparing leaders for public service,” says Negrov. “There is a great need for principle-centered leaders like John Jay in America and Russia today. I am glad to do what I can in this noble work.”

Negrov is especially interested in religious and cultural studies related to pre-communist and post-communist societies in the Russian Federation and in exploring the relevance of moral and ethical issues for perpetuating and sustaining civil society, democratic institutions and a market economy.

“Dr. Negrov is a visionary in leadership development and character education in Russia,” says Alan Crippen, president of the John Jay Institute. “His academic leadership, scholarship, teaching, and integrity of life will inspire our burgeoning leaders with a global vision for public service.” ??

Negrov became a naturalized citizen of the United States of America in 2008. Currently, he serves as Rector (president) of St. Petersburg Christian University in St. Petersburg, Russia. The evangelical Protestant university provides accredited higher education based on Christian values and aims to create an environment that provides for spiritual growth and the achievement of academic excellence. Its mission is to prepare Christians to serve and lead in both the church and society.

Negrov has taught seminars and courses on the Bible and leadership to university students in Russia and beyond. He has been appointed as Visiting Fellow at St. Vladimir Orthodox Seminary in Crestwood, New York, Visiting Scholar at the University of Notre Dame and Visiting Scholar at Pacific Lutheran University. Negrov served as director in a Post-Graduate Program in Biblical Studies validated by the University of Wales in the United Kingdom.

He has organized and attended various international conferences for theologians and biblical scholars and serves on editorial boards and academic councils. He published numerous academic articles and contributed to various scholarly books; his most recent book is: Biblical Interpretation in the Russian Orthodox Church: A Historical and Hermeneutical Perspective (Beitroge zur historischen Theologie 130 / Mohr Siebeck: Tubungen, 2008).

After receiving two master’s degrees in both New Testament and Old Testament at Briercrest Biblical Seminary in Canada, Negrov studied biblical hermeneutics and New Testament with Dr. Jan G. van der Watt at the University of Pretoria in the Republic of South Africa where he earned his doctor’s degree.

The John Jay Institute is the only faith-based, intercollegiate organization in America that is exclusively dedicated to developing principled leaders for public life. The Institute has recently relocated from Colorado to Greater Philadelphia and operates its educational programming in Bala-Cynwyd, Pennsylvania.