George Ruff

George E. Ruff, a professor emeritus in the department of psychiatry at University of Pennsylvania, died on September 29. He was 89.

Dr. Ruff was born in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania and later moved with his family to Philadelphia. He graduated from Central High School in 1945 and from Haverford College in 1948, before earning a medical degree from Penn in 1952.

Dr. Ruff was on active Air Force duty from 1957-1959, working in the Aerospace Medical Research Laboratory as chief investigator of the stress and fatigue section at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio. There, he helped select NASA’s first group of astronauts to go to space by conducting the psychiatric evaluation for the Mercury Project along with colleague Edwin Z. Levy. Later, Dr. Ruff served on the advisory panel that developed psychological selection procedures for the astronauts who served on the international space station.

He joined Penn’s School of Medicine (now the Perelman School of Medicine) in 1956 as an instructor in the department of psychiatry. He became an assistant professor in 1958, an associate professor in 1964 and a professor in 1969. He served as associate dean of the medical school from 1974-1980. Additionally, he took on a secondary appointment in the College of General Studies (now LPS) in 1990.

Dr. Ruff collaborated with Gary Gottlieb to establish the section of geriatric psychiatry. Dr. Ruff also served as research director for the Research and Training Center in Aging. He retired and became professor emeritus in 1995. From 2004-2006, he was a clinical physician at Clinical Practices of the University of Pennsylvania. He continued a private psychiatry practice until 2015. 

He is survived by his wife of 65 years, Jean Heron Ruff; daughters, Lynne, Susan, Carol Wilhelm and Nancy Bolgard; son, John; 10 grandchildren; and a sister.

Memorial donations may be made to Germantown Friends School, 31 W. Coulter St., Philadelphia, PA 19133; or to the VNA Hospice of Philadelphia, 3300 Henry Ave., Suite 500, Philadelphia, PA 19129.

A celebration of his life will be held at the Germantown Monthly Meeting at 2 p.m. on Sunday, November 19, 2017.