James V. Wertsch (born May 16, 1947) is the David R. Francis Distinguished Professor and Director Emeritus of the McDonnell International Scholars Academy at Washington University in St.
[2] After finishing his Ph.D, he was a postdoctoral fellow at the USSR Academy of Sciences and Moscow State University, where he studied with the neuropsychologist Alexander R. Luria.
From 2012 to 2018 he also served as vice chancellor for international relations at Washington University in St. Louis.
A professor of sociocultural anthropology, Wertsch studies national narratives and memory, collective memory and identity, especially in Russia and other countries of the former Soviet Union, as well as in the United States.
Wertsch is a fellow in the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the Russian Academy of Education, and he holds honorary degrees from Linköping University and the University of Oslo.