Staff SPOTLIGHT
Ruth Davis ’98 MAT, ’11 EdD
When visiting Ruth Davis at NLU’s Lisle campus, the first thing she might show you is the display of Froebel’s gifts — learning tools from the early Kindergarten movement — and artifacts from NLU founder Elizabeth Harrison in the lobby. She’ll point out the original University crest on an old course catalogue, which reads Kommt lasst uns unsern Kindern leben in German, rather than the Latin of today’s crest. Fortunately, Ruth is fluent in German, having been born in Turkey but having spent her childhood in Germany. The meaning of the motto, “Come let us live with our children,” is part of what brought her to NLU in 1996. Inspired by Harrison and the institution’s deep-rooted commitment to early childhood education — a philosophy that resonates with her from her own formative experiences — Ruth has served as an integral part of NLU for 28 years. Throughout her tenure, Ruth has held a multitude of leadership roles within the NLU community. Among her many achievements is establishing a strong partnership with Lurie Children’s Hospital to enable Lurie employees to earn NLU degrees on-site at the hospital; this important initiative continues to flourish more than 20 years later. Currently serving in a strategic capacity focused on enrollment and marketing, Ruth is also an advocate for the ethical integration of artificial intelligence in education. Her passion lies in leveraging AI in ways that preserve empathy and creativity — qualities that align with NLU’s human-centered approach to learning. Ruth believes that NLU’s strength truly lies in its ability to evolve with the world around it while staying true to its foundational values of inclusivity and human development. She sees this evolution in her current work, which focuses on strategy within enrollment and marketing. A proud NLU alumna herself, Ruth has spent her career championing innovative pathways that support students from all walks of life. Her passion for NLU is something her whole family knows well. So well, in fact, that her daughter, Lorenna, recently completed an internship with NLU’s Marketing Department — eager to experience firsthand the university of which her mother speaks with such pride. Ruth and her husband are raising five children, with three currently in college and two in high school, continuing a legacy of learning, leadership, and love for NLU.
RUTH HAS SPENT HER CAREER CHAMPIONING INNOVATIVE PATHWAYS THAT SUPPORT STUDENTS FROM ALL WALKS OF LIFE.
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