Ninetta May Runnals

Ninetta May "Nettie" Runnals (January 14, 1885 – June 1, 1980) was an American academic and college administrator. She served as Dean of Women at Colby College in Waterville, Maine, her alma mater, for 27 years, advocating for gender equality for women students and faculty members. She also helped raise significant funding for a Women's Union on the Mayflower Hill campus, which was renamed Runnals Union in her honor in 1959. She was inducted into the Maine Women's Hall of Fame in 1992.

Early life and education Ninetta May Runnals was born on January 14, 1885, in Dover-Foxcroft, Maine, to William Frank Runnals and his wife, Ida Jane Bowker Runnals. She earned her bachelor's degree in mathematics at Colby College in 1908.

Runnals retired on September 1, 1949. Afterward she sat on the college's board of trustees for six years. She continued to be active with campus affairs, particularly those concerning gender equality, until her death.

Personal life Runnals was a member of the United Baptist Church in Old Town, Maine. She died on June 1, 1980, following a lengthy illness, and was buried in her family's plot in the Gray Cemetery in Dover-Foxcroft.

Runnals was interviewed for her recollections of growing up in the late 19th century, her student years at Colby College, and the types of employment available to women in the early 20th century, by the Women in Maine Project of the Maine Folklife Center on October 23, 1974; the tape and transcript of this interview are housed at the Maine Folklife Center.