Ruth Harley, 103, Dean of Women at Adelphi
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Ruth S. Harley, who died July 4 at age 103, had an 85-year association with Adelphi University including nearly 30 years as dean of women.
After graduating from the university in 1924, Harley taught at Adelphi Academy and then worked as assistant registrar. In 1972, two years after she retired as dean of women, the school named its student center for her.
Harley was born in Brooklyn and raised in Flatbush, where she attended Erasmus Hall high school. She enrolled at Adelphi in 1920 when it was still an all-female institution, with its campus near the Pratt Institute. She majored in Latin, played on the women’s basketball team, and was president of the student-government association. She spent the entirety of her working life at Adelphi, and held many administrative jobs before being named dean of women, in 1942.
In retirement, she continued to be actively involved in university affairs. “Ruth had a tremendous impact on higher education and the lives of many Adelphi alumni,” the current president of Adelphi, Robert Scott, said.
