2021: Dr. Ruth Habeger

Ruth Habeger (born Caroline Ruth Habeger, July 24th, 1895) started her Dakota State career as a first grader in the basement of West Wing (now Beadle Hall). She would go on to receive her Masters in Botany, writing a thesis on prairie plants. Habeger would first work as an instructor at Eastern State Teachers College in 1920, then moving on to positions in White River, SD and Marshalltown, IA, before resettling at General Beadle State Teachers College in 1947. In 1961, Habeger became the Head of the Science and Mathematics Department. She taught on the third floor of Beadle Hall, a few flights up from where her education began. Habeger was an active member of multiple professional organizations throughout South Dakota. She was also a respected ornithologist (person who studies birds) and was an organizer and president of the SD Ornithologists’ Union. Habeger wrote many journal articles on birds, gardening, horticulture, and education. In her free time, Habeger was also president of the Madison Gardening Club and was an avid painter. In 1967, Habeger retired. On February 25, 1976, the governor of South Dakota declared the day to be C. Ruth Habeger Day. The C. Ruth Habeger Science Center was dedicated to Habeger on the same day.