In Memoriam: Ruth R. Martin, 1930-2024

Ruth R. Martin, professor emerita with the University of Connecticut School of Social Work, passed away on March 24. She was 93 years old.

Dr. Martin’s career in higher education began as a professor of social work with University of South Florida in Tampa. She then transitioned to the School of Social Work at the University of Connecticut, serving as a professor and later as associate dean. Dr. Martin retired from the University of Connecticut in 1999 as a professor emerita.

In addition to teaching, Dr. Martin was the author of two books: the textbook, Oral History in Social Work (SAGE Publications, Inc, 1995), as well as Beatrice’s Ledger: Coming of Age in the Jim Crow South (University of South Carolina Press, 2022), a memoir about her mother that she wrote alongside her daughter, Vivian Martin, a journalism professor with Central Connecticut State University.

Dr. Martin was a graduate of historically Black Tuskegee University in Alabama. She received a master’s of social work degree and a doctorate in education from the University of Connecticut.