Washington, D.C., she spent a year (1941-1942) as an associate social science analyst with the Program Survey Section of the Department of Agriculture. This led to a two-year stint (1942-1944) as a public opinion analyst with the Office of War Information. Her last assignment (1944-1945) was that of clinical psychologist with the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), which was the forerunner of the Central Intelligence Agency. The role required her to devise tests to assess the psychological stability of field agents. During this period, she began an affair with J. Robert Oppenheimer. Following the war, she and her husband returned to Los Angeles. There, Tolman became head of clinical psychology training at the Veterans Administration's local office from 1946 to 1954, treating soldiers who were suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (then characterized as "battle fatigue"). This effort greatly advanced her career and made her a noteworthy figure. From 1953 to 1957, she also served as a clinical professor of psychology at UCLA while maintaining an affiliation with the Veterans Administration's local Mental Hygiene Clinic (1954-1957). Personal life Her personal life was not as well known as was her professional life. Although married to Richard Chace Tolman, she was alleged to have had an ongoing affair with his good friend, J. Robert Oppenheimer, the wartime head of the Los Alamos Laboratory and one of the figures credited with being the "father of the atomic bomb" for his role in the Manhattan Project. She was ten years older than Oppenheimer. During their wartime service, the Tolmans bought a house in Washington where Oppenheimer often stayed when he was called to the capital. Her husband died of a heart attack in 1948. Some people contend that he died of a broken heart. However, the authors of the book, An Atomic Love Story, a chronicle of the lives of Robert Oppenheimer and the extraordinary women in his life, concluded: "it was not believed to have been sexual, only a close emotional bond and connection." Ruth Sherman Tolman died in California, at the age of 64, on September 18, 1957, and was later buried in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. References 1893 births 1957 deaths American women psychologists 20th-century American psychologists American women scientists University of California, Los Angeles alumni 20th-century American women