DEBORAH RUTT, D.M.D., teaches community-based learning in University Studies and in the Higher Education in Prison program at Portland State University, focusing on community health advocacy and education opportunities for incarcerated individuals.
Rutt spent 20 years in public health dentistry, providing clinical care for migrant farmworkers, refugees, and other underserved communities. She collaborated with public health and behavioral health professionals to create therapeutic spaces and gardening education programs at Coffee Creek, Oregon’s prison for women.
In 2010, Rutt joined University Studies at PSU, where she teaches Capstone courses supporting PSU’s Higher Education in Prison program at Coffee Creek and Project Rebound, which assists justice-impacted students on campus.
Rutt’s teaching philosophy centers on empowering students to leverage their lived experiences and expertise to advocate for positive change within their communities. Her background as a first-generation college student from rural southern Oregon informs her mission to provide access to higher education for those in historically marginalized communities.
Rutt dedicates this Academic Excellence Award to the formerly incarcerated students at PSU and the currently incarcerated individuals at Coffee Creek who have partnered with her in education and advocacy over the past 14 years. She is deeply grateful for the opportunity to connect people in prison with the broader education and public health community and looks forward to many more years of collaboration.