John Gerard Ruggie is the Evron and Jeane Kirkpatrick Professor of International Affairs. Prior to joining the Kennedy School he was Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations, serving as chief adviser for strategic planning to Secretary-General Kofi Annan. His responsibilities included the U.N.'s Global Compact, intended to advance human rights, labor standards, and environmental principles in global corporate practices.

Ruggie was Dean of the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University from 1991-96. He also has taught at UC Berkeley and UC San Diego, and has held visiting appointments at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (Geneva), The Royal Institute of International Affairs (London), Beijing University, and the European University Institute (Florence).

His research interests concern the implications of economic globalization for global rule making and the evolving global political order. He has published six books, including Winning the Peace: America and World Order in the New Era and Constructing the World Polity. A fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Ruggie received the 1999 International Studies Association Distinguished Scholar Award and the 2000 American Political Science Association's Hubert H. Humphrey Award for "outstanding public service by a political scientist." He has a BA in politics and history from McMaster University (Canada), a PhD from the University of California at Berkeley, and a Doctor of Laws honoris causa from McMaster University.