19 Pitt students earned national honors in a Russian essay contest

Thirty-one University of Pittsburgh students participated in the 2026 National Post-Secondary Russian Essay Contest, sponsored by the American Council of Teachers of Russian (ACTR). The annual competition is the largest of its kind in the country, this year drawing 838 students from 49 institutions.

Students from Pitt’s Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences brought home two gold medals, four silver medals, seven bronze medals and six honorable mentions.

The competition challenges students to write essays in Russian on assigned topics, with submissions judged by a panel of Russian language faculty from across the country.

Pitt’s Russian program, housed in the Dietrich School’s Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures, has another tie to the ACTR: Olga Klimova, teaching associate professor and director of the Russian program — and a 2025 Chancellor’s Distinguished Teaching Award recipient — was re-elected as president of the council in April.