Ruth Kingley is a native of Chicago and attended Northern Illinois University. She began her career in education, working at Parkway School District in St. Louis from 1981 to 1994. After moving to Phoenix, she worked at Apollo High School until she came to ASU in 1999. She worked for ten years in Student Housing as Administrative Secretary to the Associate Vice President. During this time she received the Status Award for making a difference in the lives of students at ASU. She retired in December 2010, and joined ASURA in 2013.