Eckert, Ruth E. (Ruth Elizabeth), 1905-

Ruth Eckert, B.A. (1930), M.A. (1932), University of Buffalo; Ed.D. (1937) Harvard University. Professor of education at the University of Minnesota (1938-1973). Pioneer in the field of higher education as an academic discipline.

Ruth Elizabeth Eckert was born in Buffalo, NY in 1905. She came to the University of Minnesota in 1938 as an associate professor in the College of Education, becoming a full professor in 1945. She taught courses on higher education in the Foundations of Education Department (now the Education Policy and Administration Department). Eckert published more than 100 books and journal articles on the subject of education and served on several state and national committees and commissions on higher education. In 1972, she was the first women to be named a regents' professor, the highest honor bestowed upon the faculty at the University of Minnesota. She retired in 1973, and died in 1987 in New York.