Ruth Kuschmierz (A&S ’53, G ’55, PhD ’62) says she had a storybook childhood, right up to the day her family’s home in Brandenburg, Germany was bombed by Allied forces on Easter Saturday, 1945. Ruth, her parents, and her dog were trapped in their basement until her father was able to break through a wall so they could climb out of the rubble.
That fateful day began a six-year process that ended with the family relocating to Pittsburgh where she worked part-time in a bakery and pursued her love of learning at the University of Pittsburgh.
After earning her PhD, Kuschmierz taught at Chatham College and Duquesne University before landing a position teaching German at Pitt-Greensburg in 1964. She loved the teaching environment at the regional campus, which encouraged creativity among faculty—and the students loved her.
“You have to make a language interesting, so we celebrated many German holidays,’ Kuschmierz said. “Germans are great for celebrations.”
Kuschmierz retired from full-time teaching in the 1990s but remained active in various classrooms through 2020.
Her impact on Pitt students is far from over. She created the Ruth L. M. Kuschmierz Endowed German Scholarship Fund and the Endowed German Student Resource Fund. Both offer support for students majoring in German. Kuschmierz also established the Endowed Fund in German Language and Literature, which subsidizes instruction of German language, literature, and culture at the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg and supports students studying in Germany.
I received scholarships in Germany and in the U.S. I know how important a scholarship is to help a student. My mother could not even go to high school because she could not afford it. I want to help kids study and do their best in life without worrying about how to pay for it. -Ruth Kuschmierz
Kuschmierz has met several of the students who received her scholarship. She is especially impressed with those who have used these funds to study in Germany.
“Through them, I saw the beneficial effect of studying in Germany—even if only for the summer,” Kuschmierz said. “They are more open to the culture and their speaking ability is beautifully enhanced.”