He prepared for Princeton at The Hill School in Pennsylvania and the Shrewsbury School in England. He majored in history and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. He was a member of Charter Club and the varsity track team.
After starting his career at the Wall Street Journal, Russ moved to Newsweek, where he served as foreign editor, chief of correspondents, and senior writer during his 30-year career. He covered Watergate, the Tiananmen Square massacre, and several Middle East conflicts. He was one of the first journalists to visit China after it opened to the Western press.
In Irvington, he was a longtime parishioner at the Church of St. Barnabas and served as a member of the board, and a term as chair, of Phelps Hospital for more than 30 years. He was an avid photographer and bird watcher.
The class offers its condolences to his wife of 50 years, Susan; to his daughter, Sarah, and her husband, Brian; to grandchildren Katie, Schuyler, and Ella Gardner; to his daughter, Jane, and her husband, Shedd; and grandchildren Annie, Abby, and Will Glassmeyer.