Retired health care professor Ruth Hanft, known for her outspoken opinions and keen ability to back them up, died after suffering a stroke Aug. 28. She was 82 years old.

Hanft, who lived in Charlottesville, Va. began teaching at the University in 1975, serving as a professional lecturer of health care sciences until 1978. She later returned to GW in 1991 as a professor of health care sciences.

Her loss leaves the country without a revolutionary public health leader, Assistant Secretary for Health at the Department for Health and Human Services Howard Koh said. Hanft served as a deputy assistant secretary for health research, statistics and technology at the agency before stepping into academia from 1977 to 1981.

“Outside of her federal service, she continued her ground-breaking research work with major contributions in Medicare, Medicaid and medical education research while a staff director and elected member at the Institute of Medicine,” Koh said. “She also authored numerous books and seminal academic articles on topics of health manpower, health insurance, health care financing, health care technology assessment and innovation.”

Hanft combined her research skills with a knack for teaching, making her a remarkable asset for GW, Richard Southby, a distinguished professor of global health and executive dean emeritus, said.

“She came to the department when I was chairman and she had a research portfolio and wanted to base it somewhere, and we worked out that she could do that at GW, and we were delighted because she had an outstanding reputation for research,” Southby said.

She is survived by her husband Herbert Hanft.