Promotion Committee

Vice President for Academic Affairs

Mount Saint Mary College

330 Powell Ave.

Newburgh , NY

Dear Vice President:

I am writing to share some of my observations of Dr. Ludmila Smirnova based upon my working with her closely for nearly twenty years. I have served as Dean of the School of Psychology and Social Work at Volgograd State Pedagogical University for the past decade.

It is hard to know where to start in my comments because I know my colleague’s work on so many levels. In all ways, she is exemplary. She has left a mark on VSPU and many of her colleagues and students that persists despite her departure, which we feel as a keen loss.

As Dean, Ludmila Vasilyevna was a marvelous inspiration and model. She was democratic and open in ways that were totally knew in the post-Soviet period. Although thoughtful and deliberate, she was amazingly innovative. She was willing to take risks to change for the better that few in this large bureaucracy would dare consider. Always reading or traveling abroad, she broad back fresh ideas and challenged the institution to address them. She held events and ceremonies for the students that made all 600 in the School adore her. She understood that in times of tight budgets that the parents of her students were important funding allies. She was a successful fundraiser. She introduced paid students. The result is that she perhaps did more to change VSPU to meet the challenges of the modern era more than anyone.

I should note that Dr. Ludmila Vasilyevna took the helm of VSPU’s most prominent School, the School of Foreign Languages, at a time when it was already recognized as a leading language education school in Russia. Under her leadership, this reputation was strongly enhanced. VSPU and the School of Foreign Languages became strongly sought after as partners for foreign programs because of this reputation.

Ludmila Vasilyevna initiated many of VSPU’s partnerships with foreign institutions. In my case, the most important development was her discovery of the field of Social Work in the Netherlands (where she was studying Montessori). Characteristically, it was not long afterword before she had arranged for VSPU to start a Social Work school with training and support from our new Dutch partners. It was from this time on that I began to work very closely with Ludmila Vasilyevna, as I, a psychologist, became Dean of a new emerging School based upon her efforts.

I have had numerous opportunities to witness Ludmila Vasilyevna’s pedagogical skills. She amazed all of us by her open mindedness and ability to learn from experiences in deep ways. She drew from her experiences as a leader in the Pioneer (scouting) movement and from her grasp of new educational theory a strong commitment to experiential learning aimed to drive students to deeply consider the lessons. This dynamic approach led to her development of a major student following. Adding to this devotion to her was her deep caring for her students.

As a senior education professor, she took the lead in nurturing young Ph. D. and masters candidates, helping them identify thesis topics and to carry them out in ways that established their reputations as superb scholars. Unwilling to accept less from a student than she knew they were capable of, she was demanding in a caring and productive manner. Her students rose to her challenges. The collaboration of a series of students in Ludmila Vasilyevna’s own research led to very rich scholarship resulting. Her students won over many skeptics by the sheer excellence of what they worked on with her.

I hope this letter about my collaboration with Ludmila Vasilyevnsa in the Volgograd State Pedagogical University over a long period of time to give you and your colleagues some new additional details for more complete Dr. L.V. Smirnova image.

Best regards,

Dr. Tatyana J. Andrushchenko, Ph. D.

Professor, Division of Educational Psychology

Dean, School of Psychology & Social Work

Volgograd State Pedagogical University

Russia