Michael Russell is the chair of the Scottish Land Commission. Michael served as a Scottish Government Minister and Member of the Scottish Parliament at various times between 1999 and 2021. He has had a long term involvement with land reform having been Environment Minister from 2007-2009, a member of the Scottish Parliament Committee which scrutinised the Land Reform Bill in 2015 and an MSP for the South of Scotland Region for two terms before being elected in 2011 to serve the constituency of Argyll and Bute where he has lived since 1992. He retired from representational politics in 2021, but remained SNP President until 2023. He is the author of seven books and has worked as a columnist and commentator as well as a television producer and director. He was the founder of the Celtic Media Festival, now in its 45th year, was part time Professor in Scottish Culture and Governance at the University of Glasgow (where he is now an Honorary Professor in the College of Arts & Humanities) and is the trustee of a number of charities.