Raised in Baltimore, Maryland and educated in its inner-city state schools, Jill Shaw Ruddock went on to get her degree in Politics from Bowdoin College in Brunswick Maine. She began a career in advertising in New York City, and then moved to publishing, working for Inc. magazine and The Atlantic Monthly. In 1983, Jill moved to London to co-head the consulting firm of The Government Research Corporation. A couple years later, she joined the US investment bank Alex Brown & Sons; she became the Managing Director and Head of their London office in 1994. In 1999, she retired from finance and became involved in the theatre world, fundraising and sitting on the main boards of The Donmar Warehouse and The Mousetrap Theatre Projects. In addition to her theater involvement, she is a board member of Bowdoin College Museum of Art. She was a trustee of Bowdoin College for ten years.

In 2008, Jill began the two-year process of researching and writing her inspirational book The Second Half of Your Life, published in the UK by Random House in 2011. The book is written especially for women over 50, using the changes around menopause as the trigger to get to the best years of your life. Although based on the science of hormones, it is inspirational and provides prescriptive advice to encourage today’s ageing population that they have the power to create the life they want to live. In other words, Jill believes that we can make the second half of our lives into the best half. The book has been heralded as “one of the most important women’s books for a decade”, “groundbreaking”, “inspirational” and “the manual for women in the second half of their life.”

In 2011, Jill set out to expand upon the ideas in her book and to make her words literally come to life. In May, The Second Half of Your Life Foundation was approved by the UK Charities Commission with the purpose of creating The Second Half Centre in the NHS Hospital of St Charles for the people of North Kensington, with eventually more centers throughout the UK. Using the five components of successful ageing, as detailed in Jill’s book, the Foundation will tackle isolation and loneliness for any person over the age of 50. Providing activities, teaching new skills and hobbies, and following the “Five a Day” (which has even now been adopted by the NHS), those in the second half of their lives are encouraged to discover why this is their best half. The Second Half Centre is scheduled to open in the autumn of 2012.

The Second Half of Your Life Foundation was selected by the Mayor of Kensington and Chelsea as her charity for 2011/2012. Jill Shaw Ruddock is the winner of the 2011 Veuve Clicquot “Woman of the Year Tribute”. She is the winner of the Jewish Care Woman of Distinction Award which will be awarded on May 23rd 2012. Jill will be receiving The Common Good Award from Bowdoin College in June 2012.

Jill lives in London and is married to Sir Paul Ruddock. They have two children, Sophie and Isabella.

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