Awards and Accolades

Meet Pitt’s 2025-26 Fulbright US Student finalists

Six University of Pittsburgh graduates, including five from the Dietrich School, have been selected as 2025-26 Fulbright U.S. Student Program finalists, continuing the University’s tradition of global scholarship and cultural exchange.

This year’s recipients will travel to five countries to teach English, pursue advanced degrees and conduct research through one of the United States’ most prestigious international academic exchange programs.

Todd Reeser will conduct research through France’s Gender Institute

Todd Reeser, a professor in the Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences’ Department of French and Italian, was named as a 2025 chair by France’s Institut du Genre.

As a chairholder, Reeser will collaborate on teaching in the University of Paris system, one of the institute’s 34 partner institutions, and conduct research for a new book.

Pittsburgh campus awarded $489,444 to support first-generation, low-income, and students with disabilities through TRIO Student Support Services

Pittsburgh, PA — The U.S. Department of Education has awarded the University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh campus a federal TRIO Student Support Services (SSS) grant totaling $489,444 annually for five years (contingent on continued Congressional approval) to improve college retention and graduation rates among low-income, first-generation students, and students with disabilities.

Senior Ryan Willis earned a Beinecke Scholarship

Ryan Willis, a senior in Pitt’s Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences, has been named a Beinecke scholar. He is one of just 20 students selected nationwide for this year’s award, which supports graduate study in the arts, humanities or social sciences.

Willis — who is majoring in English literature and philosophy with a minor in French — is also pursuing a Bachelor of Philosophy degree in the David C. Frederick Honors College.

The Getty Scholars have been announced

The 2025/2026 Getty Scholars have been announced and include one Dietrich School faculty member. Huey Copeland, the Andrew W. Mellon Chair and Professor in the Department of History of Art and Architecture, has been named a Guest Scholar. He will be in residence from January until June with his work “Thinking the Unthought: From Continental Philosophy to Black Radical Study.”

Two Dietrich School Students win University top honors

ODK Senior of the Year

Since the 1920s, Pitt’s chapter of the national leadership honor society Omicron Delta Kappa has recognized one recently graduated or graduating senior who exemplifies leadership of exceptional quality and versatility. Additionally, the winner’s name is engraved on a stone in the ODK Leadership Walk between the Cathedral of Learning and Heinz Memorial Chapel.

This year’s recipient is Gabriella Lombardi of Oxford, Pennsylvania. She is graduating with a degree in microbiology from the Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences.