Judith A. Ramaley, the first woman president of three universities, passed away on August 24.
Born in California in 1941, Dr. Ramaley earned her bachelor’s degree from Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania and her Ph.D. from the University of California, Los Angeles. After completing postdoctoral studies at Indiana University, she began her career in academia at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, where she ultimately rose to the role of assistant vice president for academic affairs. A biologist by training, Dr. Thrash had a stint as president of the Association for Women in the Sciences from 1978 to 1980.
In 1982, Dr. Ramaley was named executive vice president for academic affairs at the State University of New York at Albany. A few years later, she transitioned to the University of Kansas to serve as executive vice chancellor. She briefly returned to University at Albany in 1990 to serve as acting president.
In the fall of 1990, Dr. Ramaley was named the president of Portland State University, making her the first woman to lead a public university in Oregon. In 1997, Dr. Ramaley was named the first woman president of the University of Vermont. She taught as a professor of biology throughout both of presidencies.
After leaving Vermont in 2001, Dr. Ramaley became assistant director of the Education and Human Resources Directorate at the National Science Foundation. During her tenure there, she coined the popular STEM acronym for the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
In 2005, Dr. Ramaley was appointed president of Winona State University in Minnesota, beginning her third tenure as a university’s first woman president. She stepped down from her role in 2012 and returned to Portland State University to teach as a Distinguished Professor of Public Service in the Hatfield School of Government. In 2019, she joined the university’s board of trustees.