Gary L. Browning

Who is Gary L. Browning?

Gary L. Browning is an American Russian language academic and was the first mission president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Russia, Ukraine, and the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.

Born in St. Maries, Idaho, Browning was a missionary for the LDS Church in Finland as a young man. Upon returning from his mission, he earned a bachelor's degree in Russian from Brigham Young University, a master's degree from Syracuse University, and a Ph.D. from Harvard University. In 1969, Browning lived in Moscow for six months while he worked as a guide for a United States Information Agency exhibit. In 1973, Browning returned to live in Russia for six months as he researched his Ph.D. dissertation.

Browning spent two years as a member of the faculty of Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania, and then joined the faculty of Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah as a professor of Russian language and literature. In the 1980s, he founded a Utah County chapter of Utahns Against the Nuclear Arms Race and became a peace activist.