Obituary: Ben Ricci, professor emeritus of Exercise Science, advocate for the mentally retarded

Benjamin Ricci, 82, of Amherst, professor emeritus of Exercise Science and a crusader for the rights of the mentally retarded, died Jan. 21 at Cooley Dickinson Hospital in Northampton following a lengthy illness.

Ricci, who taught on campus for 36 years, was the principal plaintiff in a class-action lawsuit against the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in 1972 that forced the state to improve the treatment of the mentally retarded. The federal suit ultimately led to the closure of several state-run facilities, including the Belchertown State School, where Ricci’s son Robert was admitted in 1953.

One of the original plaintiffs in the Ricci case, Everett Kosarick said, “Few thought Ben could take on the entire Massachusetts power structure and win. But this he did in federal district court with a class action suit that lasted more than twenty years, considered by many the most successful in the nation. He withstood threats against his career and his family. He showed that one man can make a difference, one man can change history.”

U.S. District Court Judge Joseph Tauro, who ruled in favor of Ricci and the other complainants in a consent decree, called the professor “the absolute catalyst for any and all progress that we have made during this past quarter century. He was a tenacious, very thoughtful, courageous, purposeful man, who did not back down from his well-considered positions. He was relentless in his advocacy for the retarded.”

Two years ago, Ricci recounted the 20-year the battle to close the state school in a book, “Crimes Against Humanity.” He donated his papers related to the court case to the W.E.B. Du Bois Library.

Born in Cranston, R.I., he graduated from Cranston High School in 1941 and entered the military in early 1943, serving in Europe. He later served in the Air Force Reserve, retiring with the rank of colonel.

After the war, he enrolled at Springfield College, where he earned his bachelor’s degree in 1949 before going on to complete his master’s in 1950, when he joined the University faculty as an instructor in Physical Education. He completed his Ph.D. at Springfield College in 1958.

In 1963, he conducted postdoctoral research at the University of Milan’s school of medicine. He also carried out studies at the Institute of Work Physiology in Norway as a Fulbright research scholar in 1971 and the Institute of Human Physiology at the University of Rome in 1978.

He was the author of three books on physiology and also wrote a number of book chapters, manuals, journal articles and papers. He was a member of Sigma Xi and Phi Kappa Phi, a fellow of the American College of Sports Medicine, and a member of the New York Academy of Sciences and the Academia Medica di Roma.

On campus, he was active in the Massachusetts Society of Professors and was president of the local chapter of Sigma Xi.

In 1985, the National Association of Superintendents of Public Residential Facilities for the Mentally Retarded honored Ricci for his advocacy on behalf of retarded citizens with its Humanitarian Award.

He retired from the faculty in 1986, but continued his efforts to improve the lives of the mentally retarded.

He was given the Amherst Chamber of Commerce’s Millicent Kauffmann Distinguished Service Award as the town’s “citizen of the year” in 1993.

He leaves his wife of 61 years, Virginia, and his son Robert, both of Amherst; sons James of Williamsburg and Thomas of Sacramento, Calif.; and a brother.

Ricci requested that his body be donated to the UMass Medical School. His ashes will be interred at the Massachusetts Veterans’ Memorial Cemetery in Agawam.

Memorial gifts may be made to the Advocacy Network, P.O. Box 2071, Amherst 01004 or the VNA & Hospice of Cooley Dickinson Hospital, P.O. Box 329, Northampton 01060.

January 23, 2006.

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