M.W.Bro. Gregory A. Russell was elected and installed as Grand Master on February 3, 2023.
Prior to his installation as Grand Master, Greg served the Grand Lodge of Alaska as Deputy Grand Master in 2022, Senior Grand Warden in 2021 and Junior Grand Warden in 2020. He has served on the Jurisprudence, Long Range Planning, and Leadership Training Committees.
Greg was raised a Master Mason on November 11, 1993 at Kenai Lodge No. 11 and became a life member in 2020. He served that Lodge as Worshipful Master in 2019. With the encouragement and active participation of the brethren that year, the Lodge received the Grand Master’s Award of Excellence. Greg currently serves (2021) as the Lodge’s Secretary, a position he’s held in 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2020; receiving the Grand Lodge’s Secretary of the Year award in 2016. Greg received the District Deputy’s Award for Excellence in 2016.
In addition to his Grand Lodge and Blue Lodge labors, Greg is a life member of both the Alaska York Rite and the Scottish Rite, Valley of Anchorage; a supporting member of Al Aska Shrine Temple; and life member of the Kenai Soldotna Shrine Club. In 2021, he became the head of the Al Aska Shriners Football Unit and supports this annual Al Aska Shrine fund raising event. He is also a member of Order of the Eastern Star.
Greg retired in 2002 after more than 20 years in law enforcement, attaining the rank of Chief of Police. In 2003, he started a law enforcement consulting and training business, continuing to support and promote the professional delivery of police services by agencies throughout the state. He briefly returned to law enforcement in 2018 to serve as the interim Chief of Police of two Alaskan police agencies. He is a frequent conference speaker and trainer. Greg lives in Soldotna with his wife Jennie. Suspecting he may have a green thumb, he took up gardening as a hobby in 2020. Harvest time confirms or refutes this suspicion.
