A 1971 graduate of Champaign Central High School, Dr. Russell worked for a few years at Capital Record Club before enrolling in the summer of 1973 at Parkland College in downtown Champaign. That fall, he became a full-time student attending classes on the new Parkland College campus that had been completed.
While he attended Parkland, he worked part-time at the American National Bank and Kraft Foods. In 1975, Dr. Russell secured a full-time position in quality control at Kraft where he worked until 1979 when he moved to San Diego.
In 1987 Dr. Russell left San Diego and went to work in Yosemite National Park in hotel guest services. He spends his free time hiking, reading, taking photographs, traveling, taking courses online, and working on his second book – a coffee table picture book of Yosemite. His first book, Yosemite Memoirs, was published in 2010.
Dr. Russell has completed a Bachelor’s degree in Marketing, a Master’s degree in Management, and a Doctorate in Business, all through distance learning from Pacific Western University while living and working in Yosemite,
He says “The Ed2go program, offered through Parkland and many schools, is a very important part of my lifelong learning program. There, I can complete courses that I truly enjoy, in writing, editing, publishing, photography, social media, etc.”
Dr. Russell’s most memorable moment is “when I learned that I could apply what I was learning in my business and accounting areas to banking. My courses at Parkland, along with the Ed2go online program, are the most utilized courses that I’ve ever taken.”