Ruth Adler (Born 1923) was born in Frankfurt, Germany. Her work has been produced by collaboration with some the modern era’s leading architects including Minoru Yamasaki in New York City, Buckminster Fuller, in Detroit, and Eero Saarinen in Warren, Michigan, as well as a number of civic, commercial, residential, and healthcare projects with Frank Lloyd Wright, George Nelson and Louis Redstone. In these collaborations he worked for companies such as the General Motors Technical Center, Ford Rotunda, and the World Trade Center. She was born in an artist family. In fact, her mother was a talented artist (calligrapher) who studied at the Bauhaus. She got her first art training from a family friend called Paul Klee, who is one of the leading artists in Germany. Unfortunately, her life in Germany was disrupted by the Nazi regime and her family was forced to flee to America because their home was destroyed. They settled in Detroit, where she was enrolled her at Cass Technical High School where she graduated in 1942 after excelling in art.
Shortly after her graduation, she received a fellowship to the Harvard University Graduate School of Architecture and Design where, she studied under Walter Gropius, a very renowned artist. Ruth also studied at the Rhode Island School of Design under full scholarship which she received courtesy of her hard work and dedication. From here, she obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree. Ruth’s story has been that of one success after the other. She worked with a leading design firm in New York City before returning to Michigan because of a fellowship she received to the Cranbrook Academy of Art in 1946.
