Russell K. Osgood
American academic
Russell King Osgood is an American lawyer who was the dean of Washington University School of Law. Previously, he served as the 12th president of Grinnell College (1998–2010) and a professor of history and political science. He is a legal scholar and holds a B.A. and J.D. from Yale University, formerly serving as the dean of Cornell Law School. In 2003, Russell Osgood was the highest paid liberal arts college president in the U.S.; he earned $509,130 in the fiscal year ending June 30, 2004.
Pre-Washington University career
United States Navy, 1969-1971: surface line officer, USS Glover AGDE-1
Yale Law School, J.D. 1974
Employed by Hill & Barlow, 1974-1978: associate attorney, tax and corporate departments, specializing in employee benefits
Boston University School of Law: associate professor of law 1978–1980
Cornell University: associate professor of law, 1980–1982; professor of law, 1982–1988; editor, Law and History Review, 1982–1987; dean and professor of law, 1988 to July 1998
Grinnell College: twelfth president of Grinell College, 1998-2010; professor of history and science
Osgood at Grinnell
Osgood's administrative actions at Grinnell revolved around a strategic plan approved by the trustees in Spring 2005. The five-year plan's goals included increasing the emphasis on inquiry-based learning and broadening the curriculum; fostering faculty, student, and staff sense of ambition, adventure, and well-being; advancing Grinnell College as a more diverse, robust intellectual community; improving the fiscal balance and stability of the college; contributing to the vitality of the city of Grinnell; and strengthening the public profile of Grinnell College, Grinnellians, and the value of a Grinnell education.
The Grinnell campus underwent much construction and renovation in the 2000s. Though the plans began during the tenure of the previous president, Pamela Ferguson, many of the projects occurred under Osgood. World-renowned architect Cesar Pelli designed several of the recent buildings.
Osgood stepped down from his post as president of Grinnell, effective July 31, 2010.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Russell K. Osgood” is american academic. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Russell, Osgood and American, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “american academic” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Apr 18, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q7381610. VIAF identifies the subject as 265943401. The Library of Congress control number is n81103835. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1998, 2010, 2003 and 2004.
Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Russell K. Osgood”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Russell K. Osgood primary sources, Russell K. Osgood archive and Russell research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Russell K. Osgood”?
- Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
- What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Russell K. Osgood” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.