2009 Fulbright Lifetime Achievement Medal Recipient

A passionate advocate for liberal arts education in the business world, Ruth M. Owades is a serial entrepreneur (Gardener’s Eden and Calyx & Corolla), corporate director, and mentor to young entrepreneurs. She has served on the Board of Dean’s Advisors of the Harvard Business School and on the Council on Competitiveness and as a trustee of Scripps College, where she established a scholarship for low-income students. She was a Fulbright fellow to France in 1967, studying theatre with playwright Eugene Ionesco, after graduating from Scripps College. She received a master’s degree in business administration from Harvard Business School, which has immortalized both of her groundbreaking companies in case studies taught worldwide. She was named a Best Entrepreneur by Business Week magazine and has been recognized as a distinguished alumna by both Harvard Business School and Scripps College. Ms. Owades is a director of Deckers Outdoor Corp. and Northern Trust Corp. Western Board and previously served as a director of Armstrong World Industries, Providian Financial Corp., and J. Jill Group. She and her late husband endowed a chair in research chemistry at the Weizmann Institute of Science, funding research on HIV infection and cancer.