Ruth-Ellen Joeres

Ruth-Ellen was born in Baltimore, Maryland, May 20, 1939, to Hans N. and Ruth Jewel Boetcher. The loss of her father in 1945 to postoperative shock after a routine medical procedure traumatized her mother and the two young daughters. Ruth-Ellen’s interest in the German-Danish heritage of her late father culminated in her subsequently choosing a German Studies major at Goucher College, which she completed magna cum laude in 1961. She spent the next three years in Germany, initially as a Fulbright Fellow at the Universität Hamburg for the academic year 1961-62, and, subsequently, in Bad Kreuznach, after her marriage there to Erhard Joeres who was stationed in Germany in the U.S. Army from 1962 to 1964. Their return to Baltimore provided the opportunity for Ruth-Ellen to attend George Washington University where she completed her M.A. in 1966, after which she enrolled in the Johns Hopkins University’s Ph.D. program in German literature. She received the Ph.D. from Hopkins in 1971.

After a postdoctoral year at the Institute for Research in the Humanities at the University of Wisconsin in 1973-74, Ruth-Ellen joined the faculty at the University of Missouri in 1974, followed by a Humboldt Foundation Fellowship to the Universität München in 1975-76 and transition in 1976 to the faculty at the University of Minnesota, where she did research and taught until 2013.

Ruth-Ellen was also the first director of the Center for Advanced Feminist Studies (CAFS) from 1984-87, the first graduate program in feminist studies at the University of Minnesota. She and Barbara Laslett of Sociology also brought the feminist journal SIGNS to the University of Minnesota in 1990, where they co-edited it for 5 years.

In a 2006 tribute from her University of Minnesota Department of German, Nordic, Slavic & Dutch, Ruth-Ellen is named as a pioneer in the field of German women’s studies: “She has written or edited 13 books and established herself as both a visionary and an iconoclast. Joeres is a literary critic, a social and cultural historian, and a teacher. Much of her career has been spent arguing against various forms of rigidity, whether they are found in the Germanic canon, in theory, in feminism, or in academic prose.” By the end of her career, the number of books she had authored or co-edited was at least 14.

As a member of the feminist organization, Women in German, since the 1970s, Ruth-Ellen played a crucial role in bridging feminist scholarship with German studies in the United States. Her scholarship on German women writers of the 19th Century was groundbreaking. She advised generations of PhD students who went on to get academic positions across the country, and she mentored many others. She was also generous in mentoring junior colleagues at the University of Minnesota and at institutions in North America and Europe.

After suffering through the travails of a commuting marriage, Erhard and Ruth-Ellen chose to end their marriage amicably in 1986. Their friendship endured.

Preceded in death by her treasured son Timothy Joeres, she is survived by her beloved daughter, Melissa Joeres; two cherished granddaughters, Ashley Bell (Richard) and Brittany Cobb; and three adored great-grandchildren: Victoria Bell, Natalie Bell, and Richard Bell II. Their presence in her life brought her immense joy and pride.

Ruth Ellen will be remembered for her intelligence, warmth, and commitment to learning and community. Whether in the lecture hall or at family gatherings, she uplifted those around her with insight, kindness, and encouragement.

Her legacy endures in the academic community she helped build, and most deeply within the hearts of her family.