Russell Zguta (born October 3, 1949) is an American historian, educator, and professor emeritus at the University of Missouri.
He received his bachelor's degrees in history from Saint Francis University in 1964, and his masters (1965) and doctorate (1967) from Pennsylvania State University.
Zguta's research has focused on the medieval and early modern cultural history of the East Slavs, including the Belarusians, Russians, and Ukrainians.
In 1979, Choice magazine included his book Russian Minstrels: A History of the Skomorokhi (1978) in its Outstanding Academic Books list for that year. His other publications include "Witchcraft Trials in Seventeenth-Century Russia" in The American Historical Review (1977); "The One-Day Votive Church: A Religious Response to the Black Death in Early Russia" in Slavic Review (1981); and the "Monastic Medicine in Kievan Rus' and Early Muscovy" chapter in Medieval Russian Culture (1984).
While at the University of Missouri, Zguta chaired multiple departments: History (1989-1991 and 2010–2013), Economics (1991–1995), and Romance Literature (2005–2008). In 1990, he received the university's Purple Chalk Award (where the winner is chosen by a student vote) "for exemplary teaching and advising".
In October 2016, the Central Slavic Conference, a regional affiliate of ASEEES, presented Zguta with its presidential award for "his lifetime of support of the Central Slavic Conference and untiring promotion of Slavic studies".