Ruth Groenhout – In Memoriam

Ruth Groenhout (1962–2024), Distinguished Professor of Healthcare Ethics at UNC Charlotte, passed away on October 16. Groenhout wrote widely at the intersection of care ethics, feminism, and Christian ethics, as reflected in the three monographs she authored: Care Ethics and Social Structures in Medicine (Routledge, 2019); Bioethics: A Reformed Look at Life and Death Choices (Faith Alive, 2009); and Connected Lives: Human Nature and an Ethic of Care (Rowman & Littlefield, 2004). She also co-edited two volumes—Transforming Care: A Christian Vision of Nursing Practice (William B. Eerdmans, 2005) and Philosophy, Feminism, and Faith (Indiana University Press, 2003)—and wrote nearly thirty articles and book chapters. Over the past few years she was working on a book-length manuscript tentatively titled Defining Health.

Beginning in 2018, Groenhout taught a popular annual course at UNC Charlotte on the Philosophy of Death and Dying, which in recent years covered discussions of death in Greek and Roman philosophy; issues surrounding genocide, death, and justice; and end-of-life care in modern medicine. She also regularly taught the required methods seminar for first-year Master’s students in Ethics and Applied Philosophy.

Groenhout spent much of her childhood in Oaxaca, Mexico, and studied pre-medicine and philosophy as an undergraduate at Calvin College.  She completed her PhD in philosophy at the University of Notre Dame in 1993.  After a year at Spalding College and two at Southwest Missouri State University, she moved to Calvin College in 1996, where she worked until 2017, serving as Chair from 2013 to 2017. She moved to Charlotte in August 2017 as Distinguished Professor of Healthcare Ethics, where she taught until her death.

You can find more information about Groenhout’s life and work at the external links below:

“Feminism, Faith and Healthcare Ethics,” Careful Thinking podcast, 22 March 2024

“Ruth Groenhout,” interview at Ethics of Care, 6 December 2010

“Faculty Profile: Ruth Groenhout,” Calvin News, 15 August 2008