Ruth Pearl, wife of professor Judea Pearl, passed away at 85

Ruth Pearl, the mother of slain Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl who turned the profound and lasting agony of losing a son into a life of activism, outreach and bridging cultural divides, has died at her home in Los Angeles.

Pearl, who died July 20, had been suffering from pulmonary difficulties. She was 85.

Mrs. Pearl, who was born in Iraq, was a retired software developer living in Los Angeles when Daniel, 38, The Journal’s South Asia bureau chief, was kidnapped while reporting in Karachi. Despite pleas from his parents and desperate efforts to win his release by the U.S. government, his kidnappers beheaded him on Feb. 1, 2002, recording a video of his last words — “My father’s Jewish, my mother’s Jewish, I’m Jewish.”

She was the wife of Professor Judea Pearl, a mentor and leader of Section “Modern Causal Inference” of AIWS.net and 2020 World Leader in AIWS Award. He is a distinguished contributor to the book “Remaking the World – Toward an Age of Global Enlightenment”.

Judea Pearl said his wife was a fast and firm believer in the pressing need to bridge cultural differences.

“I worry about the next generation,” Ruth Pearl told The Times in 2007. “If we don’t address this now, what will become of us? What will become of our children?”

Boston Global Forum and AIWS.net send our deep condolences to Professor Judea Pearl.