Sophia Ruark ’20 honored with Senior Woman’s Service Award
The Alumnae of Northwestern University has bestowed its 2020 Senior Woman’s Service Award on Sophia Ruark ’20.
The award, established by The Alumnae in 2002, honors a senior Northwestern woman for volunteer service during her undergraduate years at the University.
Ruark, from Grand Ledge, Mich., is a senior in the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences and at the Illinois Institute of Technology. She is graduating this spring with a major in psychology and a legal studies minor.
Wide-ranging contributions
Throughout her time at Northwestern, Ruark has participated in Air Force ROTC, which has the core value of “Service Before Self.” This involvement has provided her with leadership skills, purpose and the opportunity to earn a commission as an Air Force officer. After graduation, she will head to Cannon Air Force in New Mexico to be a Remotely Piloted Aircraft officer, becoming the first woman in her detachment in at least five years to do so.
Ruark became involved with the Northwestern Prison Education Program in October 2018, beginning as an administrative assistant. Ruark’s tutoring at Statesville Correctional Center in Illinois allowed her to speak directly with prisoners about their needs.
She expanded her tutoring program by founding the Undergraduate Prison Education Partnership in 2018, for which she now serves as its president. The partnership allows groups of students to provide prisoners with reentry programming, academic support and enrichment, awareness initiatives and more. The group recently secured a $1 million sponsorship from the Mellon Foundation to expand and continue these programs.
‘New life and perspective’
“Students at Statesville Correctional Center have said that our programs and emphasis on education have given them new life and perspective,” Ruark said. “Education, especially in a place as limiting and austere as a prison, leaves no one unaffected. It has made me and so many others fall in love with education all over again.”
Ruark also served as president of the Arch Society and student director of the Northwestern Alumni Association Board, organizing and supporting events that engage undergraduates and Northwestern alumni in career advancement and networking opportunities for young professionals. In addition, she was the lead research assistant and trainer for the Affective Cognition and Neuroscience Laboratory, where she welcomed the chance to facilitate meaningful connections among people.
In addition to all the above, as well as her academic achievements, Ruark spent 35 hours per week in work-study activities during her time at Northwestern. This spring, she received a Purple Pride Award at the 2019 Wildcat Excellence Awards for her work with UPEP.
‘A model for volunteer service’
“Sophia is a model for volunteer service on the Northwestern campus. What an amazing woman,” noted Julie McDowell, chair of The Alumnae’s Senior Woman’s Service Award committee.
Ruark received the Senior Woman’s Service Award of $1,000 from The Alumnae of Northwestern University in May 2020. She will also be recognized at Honors Day and commencement.
The Alumnae of Northwestern University is an all-volunteer organization of women that raises funds for a wide range of projects to benefit Northwestern while sharing the university’s academic resources with the community through its Continuing Education program. Founded in 1916, and celebrating its Centennial in 2016, The Alumnae has given more than $9 million to the university in the form of grants, fellowships, scholarships, an endowed professorship, funding for special university projects, and summer internships.
For more information, visit The Alumnae of Northwestern University.
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