Ruth E. Nemzoff

Ruth Esther Nemzoff (born December 10, 1940) is an American author and politician who represented the Hillsborough 18th district in the New Hampshire House of Representatives from 1976 to 1982. She later served as the state's deputy commissioner of health and welfare and worked in the government department at Bentley College.

Nemzoff is currently a resident scholar at the Brandeis University Women's Studies Research Center.

Early life and education Nemzoff was born on December 10, 1940 in Boston. Her father, Samuel Nemzoff, was principal of the Temple Israel Hebrew School in Boston from 1930 to 1970 and her mother, Sophie Nemzoff, was a member of the local parent–teacher association. In 1979, she received her Doctor of Education from the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

Following the passage of the Education Amendments of 1972, Nemzoff worked with the American Personnel and Guidance Association to develop teams to implement Title IX. In 1980, she was hired to start the sex equity section in the New Hampshire Department of Education's equal opportunity office. Two years later she became the first woman to serve as New Hampshire's deputy commissioner of health and welfare. She came in second in the eight-candidate Democratic primary – finishing only 360 votes behind winner Marilyn Petitto Devaney. Nemzoff ran again in 2000, but lost to Devaney again, this time by a 3,702 vote margin.

Writing & Books

Nemzoff has written two books on family relationships, Don't Bite Your Tongue: How to Foster Rewarding Relationships with Your Adult Children (2008) and Don't Roll Your Eyes: Making In-Laws Into Family (2012), both published by Palgrave Macmillan.

She has also written advice columns on family relationships, including for The American Israelite and the "Seesaw" column of The Forward.