Ruth Schuldiner was born and raised in Fairbanks, Alaska, and moved to Akron with her parents at the age of 24. She majored in English literature at Dartmouth College, where she graduated in 2006.Her master’s degree in English is from the University of Exeter in England and she began work on her doctorate at the University of Oxford in 2008.Schuldiner is the daughter of Michael and Lea Schuldiner of Akron. Her father is a professor of English and head of the English department at the University of Akron.Charles Dickens was born Feb. 7, 1812; he died in 1870.