As a continuance of her life work at The Marsh, Ruth has a long history of community involvement. She is an advisor to the Center for Spirituality and Healing at the University of Minnesota, the first university in the United States to fully integrate complementary principles and practice into the schools of medicine and public health. Ruth has served on many boards, and is a Trustee for Macalester College, where the new student center was recently named in honor of her lifetime of work.

Ruth's extensive travels include the People's Republic of China, where she studied the healing arts of that culture, and the former U.S.S.R., where she was asked by the Ministry of Health to advise and teach.

An entrepreneur and community leader, Ruth is the recipient of many national honors including the IDEA Association for Fitness Professionals' Chris MacIntyre Award, presented by SHAPE magazine. Also, The President's Council on Physical Fitness has named Ruth a Healthy American Fitness Leader.