The CESS Board governs the work and the mission of CESS, guided by the Society’s articles and bylaws. Board Directors serve as volunteers and are actively involved in developing and managing CESS’ strategy and activities. They engage in CESS business through active participation in board meetings held digitally each month and in-person at each Annual Conference.
Board Directors support at least one of the CESS committees and may also serve as the chair one of those committees. On an informal basis, Board Directors also communicate with others about CESS, encourage new membership, and liaise with other organizations and institutions.
The CESS Board consists of nine voting members elected by the CESS membership. These include: the President, President-Elect, Past-President (who constitute the Executive Committee), and six Board Members who are elected to three-year terms.
The President-Elect is a three-year role which cycles through the positions of: President Elect (year 1), President (year 2) and Past President (year 3). At any one time, each role is filled and these 3 persons make up the Society’s Executive Committee. Each year, a President-Elect and two new Board Members are elected, as the Past-President and two Board Members’ terms end. Board members take up their positions at the Annual Conference that is held after the elections.
Learn more about CESS elections or standing for election
Currently, two officers are non-voting members of the Board and are appointed by Board Members: the Treasurer and the Clerk (fulfilled by the Society Administrator, a paid, part-time position).
Executive Committee
CESS President Ablet Kamalov is a Professor of History at Turan University, Almaty, Kazakhstan. His research interests include the history, historiography, and culture of the Turkic peoples of Chinese Central Asia, primarily the Uyghurs, and Diaspora studies.
CESS President Elect Dr Dina Shaparova is an Associate Professor and Vice Dean for Research at the Graduate School of Public Policy, Nazarbayev University. Her research interests include nation and state-building, security issues, formal and informal institutions, civil society, social capital, and well-being in Central Asia.
CESS President Elect Dr. Artemy M. Kalinovsky is a Professor of Russian, Soviet, and Post-Soviet Studies at Temple University. He is currently researching the legacies of socialist development in contemporary Central Asia to examine entanglements between socialist and capitalist development approaches in the late 20th century.
CESS Past President Jeff Sahadeo is a Professor of Eastern European, Russian and Central Asian politics, societies and history. His teaching interests include diaspora, migration, colonialism, nationality, frontiers, and borders in relations of power and the creation of identities and states. Jeff’s current research focuses on the intersection between nature and society, movement and social change through a study of rivers in Georgia.
View a list of all past CESS presidents
Board Members
Emil Nasritdinov (2022-2025) // American University of Central Asia Bishkek Kyrgyzstan
Akram Umarov (2022-2025) // University of World Economy and Diplomacy, Tashkent, Uzbekistan
Omar Sadr (2023-2026) // University of Pittsburgh, USA
Olga Khan (2023-2026) // Uzbekistan
Ketevan Gurchiani (2023-2026) // Ilia State University, Georgia
Nargis Kassenova (2021-2024) // Harvard University, USA
Ex-officio Board Members (non-voting)
Katia Clod-Svensson, Society Administrator (2022-) Inge Snip, Director of Communications (2022-) media at centraleurasia dot org Tima Moldogazíev, Treasurer (2021-) // Pennsylvania State University and American University of Central Asia Foundation, USA
