Ruth Morris Bakwin '19

Alumnae Achievement Awards 1983

Pediatrician, Child Psychologist 

Ruth Morris Bakwin ’19 was a professor of pediatrics at New York University and focused on behavioral disorders in children. She graduated from Wellesley College in 1919 and later attended Cornell University Medical School.

Her husband, Dr. Harry Bakwin, was also a professor of pediatrics at New York University, and he was one of the first to diagnose autism in children. The couple co-wrote a renowned medical text “Clinical Management of Behavior Disorders in Children.”

Ruth was the director of pediatrics of the New York Infirmary, where she was also a member of the board and founded of the League for Emotionally Disturbed Children, a national organization. After a lifetime of work in pediatrics, Dr. Ruth Bakwin died in 1985.