Bryn Geffert

Bryn Geffert serves as the Dean of Libraries at the University of Vermont (UVM) with an additional appointment as a Professor of History in the Department of History, College of Arts and Sciences. He holds a Ph.D. in Modern European History from the University of Minnesota, an M.A. in Russian History, an M.S. in Library and Information Science from the University of Illinois, and a B.A. in History and Russian from St. Olaf College (summa cum laude). His research focuses on Russian social and intellectual history, with particular attention to Eastern Orthodox Christianity and ecumenical movements.

Key publications include Eastern Orthodox and Anglicans: Diplomacy, Theology, and the Politics of Interwar Ecumenism (2010) and Eastern Orthodox Christianity: The Essential Texts (2016). He has also written for The Chronicle of Higher Education and Inside Higher Ed. Prior to UVM, he taught at St. Olaf College, the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, and Amherst College. Professional service includes roles as a high-school basketball and football official, and he remains an avid cross-country skier.

His academic work spans transnational religious diplomacy, Cold War religious dynamics, and library-publisher collaborations. Recent research includes studies on Old Catholic-Orthodox relations and sustainability knowledge commons frameworks.