Stephen Ruth

Photo 0f Stephen Ruth
Titles and Organizations

Professor

Contact Information

ruth@gmu.edu
Phone: 703-993-1789
Fax: 703-536-4121
Mason Square, Van Metre Hall, Room 541
3351 Fairfax Drive
Arlington, VA 22201
MSN: 3B1

Biography

Stephen Ruth is a professor of public policy at George Mason University and director of the International Center for Applied Studies in Information Technology (ICASIT). His research interests are focused on the problems of policy and strategic planning associated with leveraging the use of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) in large organizations, particular emphasis on telecommunications policy, green IT, return on investment metrics for e-Learning and telework. 

Ruth’s consultancies include U.S. Department of State, National Archives and Records Administration, Inter-American Development Bank, Price Waterhouse Coopers, American Management Systems, Inc., Carolina Population Center at University of North Carolina, Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, Ateneo S.A.(Argentina), National Training Laboratories, The World Bank, Soros Foundations, Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, United Nations Development Programme, Navy War College, General Services Administration, Fairfax County (Virginia), and others.

As director of ICASIT, Ruth has received close to 30 grant and contract awards totaling over $3 million and has also served as associate director of the Commonwealth of Virginia’s $2 million Internet Technology Innovation Center project, which linked Virginia’s university research centers to the high-tech businesses in the state. His international IT projects cover over 20 sites in Africa, Asia, South America, and Eastern Europe.

He has been chair, Technical Committee on Personal Computing, IEEE Computer Society, and was elected to a three-year term to the American Association for the Advancement of Science’s (AAAS) Council of Affiliates for International Programs. He has also served as vice president of the American Society for Cybernetics and on the Board of Advisors for the Czech Management Center, an MBA-granting school near Prague affiliated with the University of Pittsburgh.

Ruth was a Distinguished Lecturer for the Association for Computing Machinery for 10 years and was selected for two senior Fulbright lectureships, both in Argentina. He has received a Distinguished Professor award at George Mason University, and was a Virginia Outstanding Professor honoree, with a prize of $5,000. He is author or coauthor of more than 120 published articles and four books.

He received his BS from the U.S. Naval Academy and MS from the Navy Postgraduate School, and served 23 years in the Navy, retiring with the rank of Captain. His PhD is from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.

View CV

Areas of Research

  • Carceral Studies--Introducing Tablets and Imbedded Instruction in Jails and Prisons
  • Learning Technology Interventions in Postsecondary Education
  • Public Policy and Abrahamic Faith Traditions
  • Science and Technology
  • Social Policy