Robert Russell was appointed to the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City’s Community Development Advisory Council on January 1, 2026. Russell serves as the senior program director for the University of Missouri Extension’s business & communities program, and assistant extension professor at the University of Missouri-Columbia, where he has worked for 14 years. Russell has nearly 20 years of experience both conducting research and working in the field to tackle issues relating to labor and the workforce. He oversees a team of Cooperative Extension faculty and staff that serves all 114 counties in Missouri through the organization's community development, business development, regional economic development, and workforce development programs.
Russell also teaches non-credit and credit courses on labor and employment law, including courses focusing on the National Labor Relations Act, the Fair Labor Standards Act and the Family and Medical Leave Act.
Russell earned a Bachelor of Arts in geography from the University of Missouri-Columbia, a Master of Science in geography from the University of Alabama, and a Ph.D. in geography from the University of Iowa.