Ruth B. Weg

Who is Ruth B. Weg?

Ruth B. Weg was a professor at the Leonard Davis School of Gerontology.

A child of European immigrants, Weg grew up in Manhattan. By the age of eight, she had decided to go into medicine. She graduated from Hunter College with a degree in Biology, she had planned to continue onto medical school, but in the 1940s women were highly discriminated against; discouraged, she married her high school sweetheart and had two children, Robert and Andrea Bass. With her youngest still in diapers she decided to try for an advanced degree in Biology/Physiology and enrolled at New York University. Weg’s husband accepted a job in Los Angeles, where she then enrolled in the University of Southern California and earned a secondary Teaching Credential. She then taught for two years but returned USC for a Master's degree in biological sciences. Weg in 1958 received a Ph.D in Biochemistry/Biology from USC. Upon graduating from the Biology department, USC appointed her head of environmental research and she taught several classes. In 1965, Weg married her second husband and gave birth to a daughter Hanna Weg at the age of 44. Soon after in 1970, she became an Associate Professor of gerontology, attaining a full professorship in 1984. She was one of several professors who did the initial planning for the Leonard Davis School of Gerontology at the University of Southern California. Weg helped develop the curriculum and was Dean of students for two years. Weg specialties included sexuality in the later years, appropriate nutrition, and promoting positive images of aging. Weg was forced retire at the age of 70.