| Birth Date: | 30 December 1917 |
| Birth Place: | Waterville, New York, US |
| Death Date: | 19 June 1997 |
| Death Place: | Ocean Isle, North Carolina, US |
| Discipline: | history |
| Sub Discipline: | Kremlinology |
Robert Francis Byrnes (30 December 1917, Waterville, New York – 19 June 1997, Ocean Isle, North Carolina) was an American professor of history, specializing in Russian history and Kremlinology.[1] [2]
Byrnes graduated from Amherst College in 1939. He became a graduate student at Harvard University in 1939, where he took a survey course in Russian history from Michael Karpovich and studied basic Russian under Samuel H. Cross.[3] [4] In 1943 Byrnes became a civilian employee of the military intelligence services, specializing in intelligence for the American bombing campaign against the Japanese electronics industry. In 1945 he was appointed to a one-year academic position at Swarthmore College, with an opportunity to teach Russian.[2] He received a PhD in French history at Harvard University in 1947.[2] [3] In 1947 he joined the faculty of Rutgers University, where he taught European and Russian history. On a leave of absence from Rutgers, he spent two years from 1948 to 1950 as a senior postdoctoral fellow at Columbia University's new Russian Institute. In 1950 he returned to teaching at Rutgers University, but in 1951 he took another leave of absence to work as a researcher for the Office of National Estimates organized by William L. Langer under the auspices of the newly established Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).[3] For the academic year 1950–1951 Byrnes was at the Institute for Advanced Study. From 1951 to 1954 he worked for the CIA.[5] He was a Guggenheim Fellow for the academic year 1951–1952.[6] From 1954 to 1956 he was the director of a CIA-funded think tank on Soviet issues.
He was the author, editor, or co-editor of approximately 20 books.[1] He was the author or coauthor of over 100 articles or book chapters. He was a member of the board of Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty, a trustee of Boston College, a senior fellow at Georgetown University's Center for Strategic and International Studies, and a research fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institute.[1]
In 1942 Byrnes married Eleanor F. Jewell.[7]