Curriculum vitae

brian aitchison, phd

 

Department of Government

London School of Economics and Political Science

Houghton Street

London WC2A 2AE

e. B.Aitchison@lse.ac.uk

w. personal.lse.ac.uk/aitchiso/

 

 

Education

 

London School of Economics and Political Science, London, UK          September 2009 - September 2014

PhD, Political Science, Department of Government                              

* Dissertation: "Small Business Collective Action and It's Effects on Administrative Modernization in Putin's Russia: From 'Grabbing Hand' to 'Helping Hand'?"

* Combined regression models with extensive field interviews and a focus group to explain the effects of firm size on the level and quality of legal protections in Russia

* Funded by the LSE Research Studentship Scheme

 

London School of Economics and Political Science, London, UK               October 2008 - September 2009

Master of Research (MRes), Department of Government

* Dissertation: “Businessmen and Bureaucrats: Businesses’ Influence on Rule of Law and Political Accountability in Russia’s Regions”

* Program specialized in the development of quantitative and qualitative research methodologies

* Awarded Distinction (1st) in Quantitative Analysis, Merit (Upper 2nd) overall

 

University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico                                          January 2001 - December 2006

Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Russian Language (Minor in French), Department of Political Science and Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures

* GPA 4.0 (1st)

* summa cum laude in University Honors, Department of Political Science, and Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures

* Honors Theses: "Post-Soviet Economic Order and Its Effects on Kazakh Nuclear Policy" supervised by Dr. Mark Peceny, and "The Eastern Philosophical Tradition in Tolstoy's War and Peace" supervised by Dr Byron Lindsey

* ACT: 32 (98th percentile)

 

Professional Experience

 

Volga Academy of Civil Service, Saratov, Russia                                Spring 2011 and Spring 2012

Research Consultant, Business and Management Program

* Coordinated project to implement legal framework surrounding compliance with Russian inspection law in order to reduce market              entry and administrative barriers for small firms

*  Responsibilities included leading training seminars to increase business owners’ legal literacy and facilitating liaisons between enterprise managers and business associations

*  Featured in 2 televised interviews detailing pertinence of work to firm development in Russia

 

London School of Economics                          October 2009 - July 2010; October 2011 - July 2012

Graduate Teaching Assistant, Department of Government

* Responsibilities included synthesizing large bodies of academic research into comprehensible weekly presentations and leading students toward relevant theoretical conclusions

* Received composite ranking of 1.5/5 in student surveys (1=excellent)

* Awarded Postgraduate Certificate in Higher Education

* Courses taught: “Democracy and Democratization” and “States, Nations, and Empires”

 

Fine and Company, Albuquerque, NM               August 2003-August 2008

Sales and Operations Manager

* Role combined client-facing sales functions with management of inventory logistics

* Generated more than $600,000 in revenue for New Mexico’s largest travel goods retailer

    

Skills, interests, and Extracurriculars

 

                 * Editor, Saratov State University Journal of Sociology and Political Science

                 * Advanced proficiency in Russian, intermediate in French and Spanish

                 * SPSS, Regression Analysis, Excel, PowerPoint

                 * Competitive running (recently completed 69-mile ultra-marathon), adventure travel

 

Distinctions and Awards

 

*  Received Master's Degree "With Merit" from the Department of Government, London School of Economics and Political Science

*  UNM International Studies Institute research grant supporting undergraduate honors fieldwork in Almaty, Kazakhstan

*  Frances M. Lee Memorial Scholarship Recipient, UNM

*  Dorothy Irene Cline Scholarship Recipient, UNM Department of Political Science

 

research and academic experience

 

Interview Experience        July 2006, November 2010, and Spring 2011

*  Conducted fieldwork interviews (in Russian) with small business owners and local academics in Saratov, Russia as part of data collection strategy for PhD dissertation

*  Conducted exploratory interviews (in Russian) with experts from Higher School of Economics in Moscow and the Carnegie Moscow Center as part of data collection strategy for PhD dissertation

*  Conducted fieldwork interviews (in Russian) with experts from the Kazakhstan Institute for Strategic Studies and the Center for Nonproliferation Studies in Almaty as part of data collection strategy for undergraduate honors thesis

 

Moscow State University            November 2010

*  Completed advanced Russian language study program at MSU's Center for Russian Language and Culture

 

Postgraduate Certificate in Higher Education, London, UK            July 2010

Teaching and Learning Centre, London School of Economics and Political Science

* Completed 3 modules of practical teacher training comprising approximately 30 hours of training sessions, plus coursework and practicums over the course of the academic year

 

Document Translation             July 2007

*  Translated citizenship and professional documents (Russian to French) for Anatoly Nikiforovich Papyrin, a Russian physicist seeking employment in France

 

Tver Intercontact Group, Tver, Russia             August 2004 and July 2006 

*  Completed intensive Russian language study programs in Tver, Russia     

 

University of Russian Academy of Education, Nizhni Novgorod, Russia           August 2004 - January 2005

*  Completed 16 credit-hours of coursework (all classes taught in Russian) through the UNM--URAO (Universitet Rossiiskoi Akademii Obrazovaniya) exchange program                                                           

               

Alliance Française, Paris, France             January - March 2002

*  In addition to five years studying French language and culture, I participated in a two month intensive French language study program at the Alliance Française, Paris   

                                                         

Moscow School No. 29             March 1996

*  Participated in the La Cueva High School--Moscow School #29 Exchange Program   

                                                                                                    

 

research interests

 

*  Institutionalization of business lobbying practices in the former Soviet Union

*  Models and patterns of marketization in transitional societies

*  Small business and entrepreneurial development

 

References

 

Dr. David Woodruff

Senior Lecturer in Comparative Politics

London School of Economics and Political Science, Department of Government

p. +44 (0)20 7955 7282

e. D.Woodruff@lse.ac.uk

 

 

Dr. Byron Lindsey (ret.)

University of New Mexico, Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures

p. 001 505 256 3241

e. bliny@unm.edu

 

 

Leslee Richards

Owner, Lieber's Luggage, Albuquerque

p. 001 505 883 8991

e. sales@liebers.com