Ruth Whitney, Ph.D.Ruth Whitney, Ph.D.After growing up in an Illinois city on the Mississippi River, Ruth Whitney graduated with a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Marquette, a Catholic Jesuit university, and taught math at a high school in Wisconsin. When President John F. Kennedy said in his 1961 inaugural address, “ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country,” she was deeply inspired and joined the Peace Corps. As part of the first group of Peace Corps volunteers to go overseas, she was invited to the White House. During her two years in the Peace Corps, she taught math at Yaa Asantewa Secondary School in Ghana, West Africa. Returning to America, Ruth taught math at an African American high school in Washington, D.C. After receiving her master’s and doctorate in religion from the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., she taught religion and women’s studies for decades at a number of schools, including Rutgers University and University of South Florida.
Since serving in the Peace Corps, Ruth has worked for decades as an activist for women’s rights, civil rights, ecology, peace, and other progressive causes. For three and half years, she interrupted her teaching to work as a Field Director for the National Organization for Women (NOW) in its large but unsuccessful campaign to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) to the U.S. Constitution. In both high school and graduate school, she seriously considered becoming a Catholic nun, but decided against it. After being happily married, she was sadly divorced. Ruth wrote the book, Feminism and Love: Transforming Ourselves and Our World. Her travels included Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Europe, and South America. Currently retired from teaching, she continues her work as an activist and author, including writing a manuscript entitled Six Stages on the Spiritual Path that discusses mystics of all the world’s religions throughout the centuries. Living in Florida, she plays tennis outdoors all year.
Ruth is availabe for speaking engagements via email: ruthwhitney@verizon.net