The Russian University of Transport (RUT (MIIT); ), officially the Autonomous Educational Institution of Higher Education "Russian University of transport" () is a

public university A public university, state university, or public college is a university or college that is State ownership, owned by the state or receives significant funding from a government. Whether a national university is considered public varies from o ...

founded in

1896 Events January * January 2 – The Jameson Raid comes to an end as Jameson surrenders to the Boers. * January 4 – Utah is admitted as the 45th U.S. state. * January 5 – An Austrian newspaper reports Wilhelm Röntgen's dis ...

and headquartered in

Moscow, Russia Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

. Along with its main campus located in the capital, the university maintains one other regional campus in

Sochi Sochi ( rus, Сочи, p=ˈsotɕɪ, a=Ru-Сочи.ogg, from – ''seaside'') is the largest Resort town, resort city in Russia. The city is situated on the Sochi (river), Sochi River, along the Black Sea in the North Caucasus of Souther ...

. RUT is a leading transport educational institution and hosts the biggest university complex in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

. RUT is under the governance of the Ministry of Transport of the Russian Federation.

History

Russian University of Transport was established as the Imperial Moscow Engineering School (IMIU) by decree of

Emperor Nicholas II Nicholas II (Nikolai Alexandrovich Romanov; 186817 July 1918) or Nikolai II was the last reigning Emperor of Russia, Congress Poland, King of Congress Poland, and Grand Duke of Finland from 1 November 1894 until Abdication of Nicholas II, hi ...

on May 23, 1896, in order to train engineers for the construction of the

Trans-Siberian Railway The Trans-Siberian Railway, historically known as the Great Siberian Route and often shortened to Transsib, is a large railway system that connects European Russia to the Russian Far East. Spanning a length of over , it is the longest railway ...

. Training courses began on 12 September 1896. The first director of the university was professor F.E. Maksimenko. The first course of engineers graduated in 1901 (three-years theoretical course and two-years building practice). The Russian University of Transport is the oldest institution of higher technical education in Russia founded in 1896. Today TUT is the largest scientific and academic complex in Russia, the all Russian leader in the field of training and retraining of specialists and scientific personnel for transport and transport construction. On 15 June 1993, MIIT got the status of the

university A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

and its name was changed to the Moscow State University of Railway Engineering. For more than 120 years of history, more than 650 thousand highly qualified specialists with higher and secondary professional education have left the university. They successfully work in transport and in other various sectors of the economy in Russia and 57 countries of the world. More than 30 Heroes of the Soviet Union and Socialist Labor, transport industry leaders, world-famous scientists, members of the Russian government, governors, mayors of large cities, prominent public figures, prominent representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church and culture, and top businessmen are among the graduates of RUT. In Soviet times, the university was notable for being one of just a few institutions in the upper echelon that did not participate in the state-directed antisemitism campaign in higher education. This gave many Jewish students in the USSR a chance at a higher education when they would not have otherwise gotten it.

Structure of the university

Institutes: * Institute of Transport Engineering and Operation Systems * Institute of Railway Track, Construction and Structures * Institute of Operation and Digital Technologies * Institute of Economics and Finance * Institute of International Transport Communications * Law Institute Academies: * Basic Training Academy * Academy of Water Transport * Russian Academy of Railway Engineering * Russian Open Transport Academy Research Institute: * Scientific Research Institute of Transport and Transport Construction Branches and representative offices: * Sochi Institute of Transport - branch of the federal state autonomous educational institution of higher education "Russian University of Transport", Sochi branch of RUT (MIIT) Colleges and technical schools: * Gymnasium * College of the Academy of Water Transport * Medical College * Moscow College of Transport, * Law College of the Law Institute

Notable alumni

Semyon Belits-Geiman Semyon Viktorovich Belits-Geiman (; born 16 February 1945) is a former Soviet freestyle swimmer. He set a world record in the 800 m freestyle, and won two Olympic medals. Early life Belits-Geiman is Jewish and was born in Moscow, where he atte ...

, Soviet Olympic swimmer *

Bidzina Ivanishvili Bidzina Ivanishvili (; born 18 February 1956), also known as Boris Grigoryevich Ivanishvili, is a French-Georgian businessman, politician and billionaire oligarch. He is founder and the leader of the ruling Georgian Dream party and has ruled G ...

, Georgian businessman and politician * Vitaly Malkin, Russian businessman and politician * Konstantin Borovoi, Russian businessman and politician * Igor Guberman, Russian-Israeli poet *

Anatoly Rybakov Anatoly Naumovich Rybakov (; – 23 December 1998) was a Soviet and Russian writer, the author of the anti- Stalinist '' Children of the Arbat ''trilogy, the novel ''Heavy Sand'', and many popular children books including ''Adventures of Kr ...

, Soviet and Russian writer *

Roustam Tariko Roustam Tariko (; born March 17, 1962) is the founder of Russian Standard Vodka. He also founded Russian Standard Bank, a credit card operation and a term life insurer in Russia. In 2009, Tariko's net worth was estimated at $1.1 billion. ...

, Russian businessman *

Yakov Dzhugashvili Yakov Iosifovich Dzhugashvili ( – 14 April 1943) was the eldest son of Joseph Stalin, and the only child of Stalin's first wife, Kato Svanidze, who died nine months after his birth. His father, then a young revolutionary in his mid-20s, le ...

, son of

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...

Igor Zaitsev Igor Arkadyevich Zaitsev (; born 27 May 1938) is a Russian grandmaster of chess. Early life and family Zaitsev was born in Ramenskoye, a town outside Moscow. His Armenian father, Arkady Gevorgovich Aghaian, was a deputy commander of a warship; ...

, Soviet Grandmaster *

Gregory Kaidanov Gregory Kaidanov (, ; born 11 October 1959) is a Soviet-born American chess Chess is a board game for two players. It is an abstract strategy game that involves Perfect information, no hidden information and no elements of game of chance, ch ...

, Russian-American Grandmaster *

Viktor Vekselberg Viktor Felixovich Vekselberg (born April 14, 1957) is a Russian-Israeli businessman and oligarch. He is the founder and chairman of Renova Group, a Russian conglomerate. According to ''Forbes'', as of November 2021, his fortune is estimated at ...

, Russian businessman *

Len Blavatnik Sir Leonard Valentinovich Blavatnik ( Ukrainian: Леонард Валентинович Блаватник; born June 14, 1957) is a Soviet/Ukrainian-born British-American businessman and philanthropist. As of April 2025, ''Forbes'' estimated ...

, Russian-American businessman *

Vladimir Kuzmin Vladimir Borisovich Kuzmin (; born 31 May 1955) is a Russian rock singer, guitarist, and songwriter. Biography Kuzmin is the son of Boris Kuzmin, a naval officer, and Natalya Kuzmina, a Russian language and literature teacher. When he was ...

, Russian musician *

Victor Cherkashin Victor Ivanovich Cherkashin (; born 22 February 1932) is a former Soviet foreign counter-intelligence officer of the PGU KGB SSSR. He was the case officer for both Aldrich Ames, a CIA counter-intelligence officer, and Robert Hanssen, an FBI ag ...

, Longtime KGB officer in America, handler for

Ames AMES, short Air Ministry Experimental Station, was the name given to the British Air Ministry's radar development team at Bawdsey Manor (afterwards RAF Bawdsey) in the immediate pre-World War II era. The team was forced to move on three occasion ...

and Hanssen *

Alexander Maslyakov Alexander Vasilyevich Maslyakov (; 24 November 1941 – 8 September 2024) was a Soviet and Russian television game show host. He was a well known, iconic figure throughout the former USSR, having been on the screen for the greater part of most ...

, Russian television personality, founder of

KVN ''KVN'' (, an abbreviation of , ''Klub vesyolykh i nakhodchivykh'' or ''Ka-Ve-En'', "Club of the Funny and Inventive eople) is a Russian and formerly Soviet comedy television show and international competition in which teams compete by givin ...

Isidore Mvouba Isidore Mvouba (born 1954John F. Clark and Samuel Decalo, ''Historical Dictionary of Republic of the Congo'', fourth edition (2012), Scarecrow Press, page 305.) is a Republic of the Congo, Congolese politician who was Prime Minister of the Republ ...

Fu Zhihuan Fu Zhihuan (; born March 1938) is a politician of the People's Republic of China, and an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering. He served as the Minister of Railways of China from March 1998 to 2003. Fu was a member of 15th Central C ...

* Yaakov Kedmi

References

External links

Official site of Russian University of Transport
{{authority control Universities in Moscow Universities and colleges established in 1896 1896 establishments in the Russian Empire Transport education Engineering universities and colleges in Russia Cultural heritage monuments of regional significance in Moscow