Ruth Lüthi (

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

: Affolter; born 1947) is a Swiss academic and a former politician. She was a member of the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Form ...

and headed the public health and social affairs department of the

Canton of Fribourg The canton of Fribourg, also canton of Freiburg, is located in western Switzerland. The canton is bilingual, with French spoken by more than two thirds of the citizens and German by a little more than a quarter. Both are official languages in th ...

between 1991 and 2006. She was a member of the Council of the Fribourg Canton.

Early life and education

She was born in

Grenchen Grenchen () is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the district of Lebern (district), Lebern in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Solothurn (canton), Solothurn in Switzerland. It is located at the foot of the Jura mountains betwee ...

, Switzerland, on 14 September 1947. She received her Ph.D. in psychology from the

University of Bern The University of Bern (, , ) is a public university, public research university in the Switzerland, Swiss capital of Bern. It was founded in 1834. It is regulated and financed by the canton of Bern. It is a comprehensive university offering a br ...

in 1990.

Career

Following her graduation from university Lüthi worked as a teacher from 1967 to 1978. She was an assistant at the Psychological Institute of the

University of Fribourg The University of Fribourg (; ) is a public university located in Fribourg, Switzerland. The roots of the university can be traced back to 1580, when the notable Jesuit Peter Canisius founded the Collège Saint-Michel in the City of Fribourg ...

and then a research associate at the National Fund between 1979 and 1982. In the 1990–1991 academic year Lüthi joined the University of Bern where she worked as a lecturer. Lüthi was elected to the council of the Canton of Fribourg in 1982. She headed the Social Democratic Party in Fribourg between 1988 and 1991. She was named as the head of the public health and social affairs department in the Canton of Fribourg in 1991 and held post for 15 years until 2006. She was the president of Council of State of Fribourg for three terms in 1996, 2000 and 2005. She became a board member of the

Swiss National Bank The Swiss National Bank (SNB; ; ; ; ) is the central bank of Switzerland, responsible for the nation's monetary policy and the sole issuer of Swiss franc banknotes. The primary goal of its mandate is to ensure price stability, while taking econ ...

in 1999. She retired from politics in 2006. In April 2007 she was appointed president of the Federal AHV/IV Commission. The same year she was also made president of the Freiburg International Film Festival. She was the president of the Senate of the

University of Freiburg The University of Freiburg (colloquially ), officially the Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg (), is a public university, public research university located in Freiburg im Breisgau, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The university was founded in 1 ...

until 2016.

Personal life

She was married to Ambros Lüthi who died in 2008. She has been living in Freiburg since 1973.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Luthi, Ruth 20th-century Swiss women politicians 21st-century Swiss women politicians 1947 births Living people Academic staff of the University of Bern Academic staff of the University of Fribourg University of Bern alumni Social Democratic Party of Switzerland politicians Swiss women psychologists Swiss schoolteachers People from Lebern District Candidates for the Federal Council (Switzerland)