The students' champion

Ruth Aranow came to Johns Hopkins in 1951 to pursue a doctorate in chemistry. It was like entering a leafy oasis.

"The sun was shining when I first arrived on campus, and as I approached the Beach, the birds were calling," she says. "It was like being in a rural area. This was my first vision of Johns Hopkins, and I loved it."

Aranow, you see, was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, and earned her undergraduate degree from Brooklyn College. Though her voice maintains a hint of her hometown accent, she dismisses New York as "all concrete and subways." (OK, she does love the Brooklyn Botanical Garden.)

Hopkins proved to be fertile and verdant ground for her academic and professional pursuits. She received her doctorate in chemistry here and, save for about a dozen years spent working in the private sector, made a career at Hopkins as well, first as a faculty member and, for the past 38 years, as an academic adviser. She retires this June—74 years after first strolling through Homewood's sunny gates.

But it wasn't always a walk in the park. Hopkins was largely a boy's club back in the day. Women wouldn't arrive as undergraduates until 1970, and in Aranow's era, men far outnumbered women among advanced degree students. This was brought into focus when, as a doctoral student, she was granted an assistantship and began teaching part time.

"There was a faculty club, which I didn't want to have anything to do with because they were very anti-women," Aranow recalls. And, she notes, faculty dining facilities were sexually segregated, and her efforts to enter the men's area were met with shouts of You're not allowed here! She shook it off then, and has no bitterness now, she says.

Aranow found plenty of support on campus, however, calling Physics Professor George Owen "a real inspiration" and naming Chemistry Professors Donald Andrews, John Gryder, Alsoph Corwin, and others as mentors and friends. "I really liked the faculty, and I stayed in touch with them for years," Aranow says. "They were great."

After completing her doctorate in 1957 she went to work in Baltimore for what later became the Martin Marietta Corp., doing "pure research" until a company reshuffle in 1969 saw her return to Hopkins, where, under Gryder's sponsorship, she coordinated research grants from the Air Force Office of Scientific Research.

In 1976 she began a decade of teaching chemistry in the School of Continuing Studies' summer program. Three years into this work, Gryder asked her to also help with his Intro to Chemistry course. "It was a gigantic class of close to 250 students," Aranow says. "I became an assistant to him for two years and then, when he became a dean, he recommended that I start teaching in his place."

Of her teaching philosophy, Aranow says, "I felt like the classroom was a shared adventure. The textbook was our adversary, and we were trying to find better ways to express things. My goal was to try to be clear, write slowly—and very large—so students could absorb the information, and I'd leave copies [of classroom notes] in the library if students missed something. And my door was always open to students." Her biggest challenge? Being heard in the capacious lecture hall, Remsen 1.

She was awarded the prestigious George Owen Prize for Teaching in 1986, an accolade made even more meaningful because she had long admired the man for whom the prize was named. Ultimately, she impacted an entire generation of students who've gone on to become successful scientists, researchers, and physicians. Roger Hajjar, a physician and founding director of the Gene and Cell Therapy Institute of Boston's Mass General Brigham health system, is but one.

"Dr. Ruth Aranow not only made inorganic chemistry come alive with her passion and brilliance, but she also shaped the careers of countless students, guiding them with wisdom and dedication as both an educator and an adviser," says Hajjar, who received his undergraduate degree in biomedical engineering from Hopkins. "She was an incredible mentor to me. As I pursued my career in academic medicine, I strived to emulate her example—her unwavering support, insightful guidance, and genuine dedication to her students' success. Her influence continues to inspire me every day."

In 1985, Douglas Poland took over teaching Intro to Chemistry, so, in 1987, Aranow embarked on another academic adventure, joining the Krieger School's Office of Academic Advising, where she has played an instrumental role in supporting undergraduates and advising them on their academic journeys. Her work there has included a long stint overseeing students' overseas experiences as the Study Abroad coordinator, helping them obtain scholarships and enriching their education with global perspectives.

"I loved it," Aranow says of that work. "IFSA-Butler and Arcadia offered study abroad familiarization trips. I traveled to universities to learn about places we sent students, including Australia, New Zealand, and Ireland. Israeli University Consortium and Denmark International Studies also offered familiarization trips. Back then, there was no budget for travel, so I paid my own airfare. This was the way I learned to be a Study Abroad adviser." In 2008, her last year as Study Abroad coordinator, she was honored with the Homewood Cup, an award given to staff members who go above and beyond to help students.

Aranow credits some of her success to having embraced a scientific approach to advisory work.

"I have spent my years in Academic Advising trying to understand what cognitive neuroscience can teach us about learning and how disciplines are organized, which I have coined 'the flavor of the major,'" Aranow says. "Students need to be aware of the different flavors and not assume there is only one way of learning and organizing information."

Tracy Glink, associate director of KSAS Academic Advising, describes Aranow as "an exceptional academic adviser."

"Despite her years of experience, Ruth remains open-minded and adaptable, embracing change with positivity and curiosity rather than fear or rigidity," she says. "Ruth has consistently exemplified our core values of curiosity, respect, collegiality, and excellence. Her outlook on the world is a truly admirable one because she is always looking for ways to understand, explain, and fix issues big and small. The world would be a better place if more people had Ruth's ability to seek understanding first."

"I feel like I've always been on the students' side," Aranow says. "My goal has been to help them realize their own selves."

And what does she say has been most rewarding about her decades-spanning Hopkins career? "I made lots and lots and lots of friends."