Lev Gudkov is a Russian sociologist, doctor of Philosophy and director of the analytical Levada Center, non-governmental polling and sociological research organisation. He is also the editor-in-chief of The Russian Public Opinion Herald journal. Lev studied journalism, sociology and philology at the Lomonosov Moscow State University and graduated in 1971. Lev is the author of numerous books and articles on the theory and methodology of social science, sociology of literature, ethno-national relations, social problems of the post-soviet society. Besides his work at the different institutions, Gudkov also works as a professor. In 1994 he lectured sociology at the Jewish University of Moscow. From 1996 to 2004 and in 2006, he was a lecturer in sociology at the Russian State University for the Humanities. Additionally from 2005–2007 he gave lecture and seminars on the topic “Russia – a transitional society? - Cultural and institutional factors of socio-political conservatism in post-Soviet Russia” at the department of Political Science at the Moscow School of Social and Economic Sciences.