Richard L. Russell is a Lecturer for the Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M University where he teaches courses on American national security policy, diplomacy and intelligence.

Russell received his doctorate in foreign affairs from the University of Virginia. He previously served as a political-military analyst at the Central Intelligence Agency, a Professor of National Security Affairs at the National Defense University, and as an Adjunct Professor of Security Studies at Georgetown University.

Russell's teaching and writing focuses on the most acute challenges and threats facing the United States and aims to fill the wide gap between scholars and practitioners in international security. He is the author of three books—to include Sharpening Strategic Intelligence published by Cambridge University Press—sixteen chapters in edited books, and more than forty journal and magazine articles.