Vitaly Charny was born in Minsk, Belarus and has lived in the United States since 1989. He studied nuclear physics at Belorussian State University and has taught high school science, worked as an IT specialist, and spent the last twenty-five years of his professional career as a software engineer. He is the author of many articles on philately, genealogy, and nature. He coauthored the book Butterflies of Alabama with Samford biology professor, Mike Howell, and is working on a book about Alabama lichens. He is an avid nature photographer and enjoys hiking, books, movies, classical music, and spending time with friends. Vitaly started teaching Russian in Samford’s Critical Languages Program in 1997 and is married to Larissa, who has also taught Russian for WLAC, and together they have two daughters and five grandchildren.