I, Ivan V. Morozov, am better known to many as the “Russian Hokie”. Born in Yalta, Crimea in the Soviet Union, I came to the United States in the summer of 1991 as an exchange student with aspirations of studying American agribusiness – horticulture in particular. Having plans to spend only a year in the United States, an upheaval in my homeland soon after arriving caused me to extend my stay. My American host family, Paul (Virginia Tech ’54) and Tatum Saunders (University of Virginia ’57) , encouraged me to finish college in the United States. Heeding to their advice I’ve entered Virginia Tech where I have received a Master of Science and then followed it with a PhD.

While as a student at Virginia Tech I became interested in photography in general and photography of flora in particular. By the time I entered my PhD program, my photography of flora has won 1st, 2nd, and 3rd places at regional and national photo competitions, gracing the covers of regional and national publications. However, since then my interests in photography have shifted from flora more toward sporting events and general campus life. In 1997, I published my first web site (“Russian Hokie House”) where I presented some of that early work.

Over the past several years I have taken literally thousands of pictures of Virginia Tech campus life.That work was reproduced in the calendars of Virginia Tech, numerous postcards, and limited edition prints. Furthermore, my photography of Virginia Tech campus life has been featured in the Virginia Tech Corps Review, football game programs, advertising brochures for local businesses, and other print media. Culmination of this body of work became my collaborative work with the Virginia Tech Alumni Association on a 120+ page pictorial “Virginia Tech: Cut in Stone“. Published in early spring of 2007, this well-received “coffee table”-type book contains close to two hundred photographs (all of them by yours truly) of Virginia Tech campus life.

I must add that I have been very fortunate to enjoy strong support from my family, friends, and colleagues with regard to my photography. There’s more I’d like to add but I don’t want to completely bore you to tears, so I’ll stop. Now, go – browse and enjoy my web site!

My interests (other than photography):

• Plant physiology, Entomology, Phytopathology
• Information Technologies, Graphic Design
• Languages and History

My favorite music (in no particular order):

• Classics (Tchaikovsky, Mozart, Bach, Beethoven, and selected works of several others)
• Rock (Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, AC/DC, Deep Purple)
• Chillout (Asura, Ott, Enterprise, Cardamar, Stef)
• Russian bards (Okudzhava, Vysotsky, Galitch)
• Neo Classics (mostly just individual works, such as “Carmina Burana” by Carl Orff, various Shostakovitch, and the like)

My favorite literature (in no particular order):

• “Master and Margarita” by M. Bulgakov
• “Animal Farm” by G. Orwell
• “La Terre” by E. Zola
• “All Quiet on Western Front” by E. M. Remarque
• “The White Company” by A. C. Doyle
• “Rasskazy i Povesti” by I. Ilf and E. Petrov
• “Don Quijote” by Miguel Cervantes
• “Faust” by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
• “Povesti i Rasskazy” by Sergei Dovlatov
• “Quo Vadis” by Genrik Senkevich