About
Board of Directors

ACTR Board of Directors

Officers:
All terms are from the Annual Membership Meeting to the Annual Membership Meeting in the years listed

President: Olga Klimova, 2024-2026, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA
Vice-President: Elizabeth Lee Roby, 2024-2026, Friends School of Baltimore, Baltimore, MD
Executive Director: Dan Davidson, CEO, Emeritus Professor, Bryn Mawr College, Bryn Mawr College, Bryn Mawr, PA
Secretary: Susan Kresin, University of California, Los Angeles, CA
Treasurer: Kristen Welsh, Hobart and William Smith Colleges, Geneva, NY

Board Members:
All terms are from the Annual Membership Meeting to the Annual Membership Meeting in the years listed

Cori Anderson
2026-2029

Russian Language Journal - Associate Editor for Book Reviews

Rutgers University, Rutgers, NJ

Anna Asadova-Ossowska
2026-2029

ACTR Olympiada Regional Chair

San Diego Russian School, San Diego, CA

Emil Asanov (Graduate Student Representative)
2026-2029

Bridge-Building Committee (Graduate Outreach and Support Committee, co-chair)
Professional Development Committee

Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL

Brooke Ballenger
2025-2028

National co-chair, Olympiada of Spoken Russian
The Newsletter Editorial Board

Central High School, Bellevue Middle School, TN

Catharine Cooke
2025-2028

Convener of the Middle School Professional Sharing Group
Co-chair, National Russian Essay Contest Committee
Bridge-building Committee (K-12 Outreach)

Mill River Union High School, N. Clarendon, Vermont

Dan Davidson
Executive Director

Summer Russian Language Teacher Professional Development Program (Almaty)
Editorial Consultant, Russian Language Journal
Official Delegate of ACTR to MAPRYAL

Emeritus Professor, Bryn Mawr College, Bryn Mawr College, Bryn Mawr, PA

Julia Denne
2025-2028

Chair, Bridge-Building Committee, Advocacy Sub-Committee
Chair, Secondary Teaching Excellence Awards Committee
Supervisor, undergraduate summer internship
Olga E. Kagan Professional Development Grant Committee

By the Onion Sea Program, Chicago, IL

Olga Gotta
2026-2029

Bridge-building Committee (K-12 Outreach)
SLAVA Executive Secretary/Treasurer
Pre-college Teaching Awards Committee

Glastonbury High School, Glastonbury, CT

Raquel Greene
2024-2027

Committee for Community Values
ACTR Summer Teachers' Program Selection Committee

Grinnell College, Grinnell, IA

Maria Khotimsky
2024-2027

Chair, Bridge-Building Committee, Mentorship Program Sub-Committee
Co-chair, National Russian Post-Secondary Essay Contest
Professional Development Committee

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA

Olesya Kisseleve
2026-2029

Post-secondary Teaching Awards Committee

University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC

Olga Klimova
2024-2027

President
Chair, Public Relations Committee
Bridge-Building Committee, Advocacy Sub-Committee
Social Media Sub-committee
National chair, Olympiada of Spoken Russian
Supervisor, undergraduate summer internship

University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA

Irina Kogel
2024-2027

Co-chair, Professional Development Committee
Co-chair, Web Services Committee
Vice-President, Dobro Slovo The National Slavic Honor Society

Boston University, Boston, MA

Susan Kresin
2024-2027

Secretary
Chair, Nominations Committee
Chair, Olga E. Kagan Professional Development Grant Committee
Bridge-Building Committee, Graduate Student Outreach and Support Sub-Committee
The Newsletter Editorial Board
Professional Development Committee
Summer Russian Language Teachers (SRLT) Program Selection Committee

University of California, Los Angeles, CA

Kathryn (Kit) Pribble
2025-2028

Co-chair, Web Services Committee
Post-Secondary Teaching Awards Committee (2024-2027)
Public Relation Committee
Social Media Sub-committee

Wake Forest University, Salem, NC

Olga Mukhortova
2026-2029

Social Media Committee
Advocacy Committee

Defense Language Institute, Monterey, CA

Lauren Nelson
2025-2028

Chair, The ACTR Secondary Laureate Award
Committee for Community Values

Pritzker College Prep, Chicago, IL

Lara Ravitch
2025-2028

Chair, Committee for Community Values
Co-chair, National Russian Essay Contest Committee
Bridge-building Committee, K-12 Outreach Sub-Committee
Service Award Committee

Concordia Language Villages and University of Oregon

Elizabeth Lee Roby
2026-2029

Vice President
Chair, Bridge-Building Committee
Bridge-Building Committee Chair, Advocacy, and K-12 Outreach Sub-committees
Co-chair, Professional Development Committee
Regional co-chair, Maryland Olympiada of Spoken Russian
Committee for Community Values
East Regional Vice President, SLAVA

Friends School of Baltimore, Baltimore, MD

Izolda Savenkova
2025-2028

Chair, Post-Secondary Russian Scholar Laureate Award Committee
Post-Secondary Teaching Awards Committee (2024-2027)
Organizer and Host, Advanced Russian Language Conversation Meet-Ups and Summer Book Club

Fordham University, New York, NY