LABC Update – Wednesday, March 16, 2022

Dr. Monica Eppinger Bio:

Monica Eppinger is an anthropologist and legal scholar specializing in Ukraine. She teaches at Saint Louis University, where she also serves as Co-Director of the Center for International and Comparative Law. Dr. Eppinger first became involved with Ukraine in her first career as a U.S. diplomat, when she served at the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv from 1995-97.

Monica grew up in the First Baptist Church of Topeka, Kansas. She was inspired to diplomacy in childhood by watching a fellow Baptist, President Carter, and his leadership for peace in negotiating the Camp David Accords between Israel and Egypt; that’s when she dedicated herself to the cause of peace and she began to study Russian from age 11. She served in the U.S. diplomatic service for nearly  ten years with tours of duty in Ukraine and in West Africa and several rotations in Washington, responsible for U.S. policy towards newly independent countries of the former Soviet space. After she left the diplomatic service, she put down roots in the Bay Area while studying for a Ph.D. at Cal and she, along with her husband Dave still return regularly to the Bay. She proudly and fondly calls Lakeshore Avenue Baptist Church (a BPFNA partner congregation) her California church home. In St. Louis, Monica is a member of Second Baptist Church where she is the Outreach Chair and serves on the Social Justice working group. She speaks Russian and Ukrainian (and remembers when she could also speak Chinese and Hausa!)