Post by Rockridge Geotechnical

Everyone who has studied geotechnical engineering knows the teachings of Karl von Terzaghi, known as the “father of soil mechanics and geotechnical engineering.” However, few people know about his wife, Ruth Doggett Terzaghi. This International Women in Engineering Day, we want to honor the legacy of Ruth Doggett Terzaghi, who was a geotechnical engineering pioneer in her own right. Born in 1903, Ruth Doggett was enthused by earth sciences in her adolescence. She would attend the University of Chicago after graduating from high school, earning an undergraduate degree in geology and earth sciences before returning to earn her Master of Science degree in geology. Ruth Doggett then became a professor at Goucher College before moving to Massachusetts to continue her academic career. There, she worked as a professor at Wellesley College while taking Ph.D. courses at Harvard; during this time, she met geologist Karl von Terzaghi. In 1930, Ruth Doggett attained her Ph.D. from Harvard and married von Terzaghi. Ruth Doggett Terzaghi then pursued a long scientific career, completing research on her own while working with her famed husband. From 1930 to 1938, the couple travelled the world, working on various geotechnical projects. Their investigations an arch dam in Dagestan, a main irrigation canal in central Asia, and a rockfill dam in Algeria. The two then worked together at Harvard, and in 1957, Ruth Doggett Terzaghi took on a new role as a professor of Engineering Geology at the Graduate School of Engineering at Harvard. She then became a research fellow at Harvard, and in 1965, her extensive research led her to publish “Sources of Error in Joint Surveys,” often referred to as her best paper. Although Karl von Terzaghi is thought of as the founder of modern geotechnical engineering, he had an equally brilliant wife by his side throughout his entire career. We must remember and platform extraordinary women like Ruth Doggett Terzaghi, who accomplish so much but are far too often just a footnote in history.