Rita Jenkins was the round-faced, middle-aged secretary of London University's archaeology department chairman William Pencroft in 1927. When Indiana Jones turned up at Pencroft's office to request a sabbatical that spring, Jenkins tried to turn him away as Pencroft, whom she watched like a mother, was due to go to a meeting half an hour later, claiming that he was resting. However, Pencroft then showed up in the doorway and invited Jones inside anyway. By 1930, she was replaced as Pencroft's secretary by Sally Strickland.