Marshall D. Shulman was a graduate of the first class of the Russian Institute, and founding director of the Harriman Institute. He devoted his life to understanding the Soviet Union as a leading scholar, a policymaker and a principal builder of Columbia’s Russian studies program. Shulman held the rank of ambassador as the principal adviser on Soviet matters to Secretary of State Cyrus R. Vance in the Carter administration and was a speechwriter for Secretary of State Dean G. Acheson in the Truman administration. As a private citizen, he helped organize meetings between scientists and others from the United States and Russia that many believe helped ease cold war tensions. In 1982, Shulman persuaded Mr. W. Averell Harriman and his wife, Pamela, to endow the Russian Institute with $11.5 million, after which it became the W. Averell Harriman Institute. NYTimes Obituary