John G. Ruggie was the Berthold Beitz Professor in Human Rights and International Affairs at the Harvard Kennedy School(2009-2021), Affiliated Professor in International Legal Studies at Harvard Law School, and Faculty Chair of the Corporate Responsibility Initiative. Trained as a political scientist, Ruggie has made significant intellectual contributions to the study of international relations, focusing on the impact of globalization on global rule making. A Fellow of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, he has received the International Studies Association's “Distinguished Scholar” award, the American Political Science Association's Hubert Humphrey award for “outstanding public service by a political scientist,” a Guggenheim Fellowship, the Harry LeRoy Jones Award from the Washington Foreign Law Society for “an individual who has made an outstanding contribution to the development and application of international law;” the World Order Under Law Award from the American Bar Association, and the Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin A.SK Social Science Award “given every two years to honor social science researchers whose work significantly promotes economic and political reform. He has also been awarded honorary doctorate degrees from McMaster University and the University of Waterloo, both in Canada. A survey published in Foreign Policy magazine identified him as one of the 25 most influential international relations scholars in the United States and Canada.
Apart from his academic pursuits, Ruggie had long been involved in practical policy work, initially as a consultant to various agencies of the United Nations and the United States government. From 1997-2001 he was United Nations Assistant Secretary-General for Strategic Planning – a post created specifically for him by then Secretary-General Kofi Annan. His responsibilities included establishing and overseeing the UN Global Compact, now the world's largest corporate citizenship initiative; proposing and gaining General Assembly approval for the Millennium Development Goals; advising Annan on relations with Washington; and broadly contributing to the effort at institutional renewal for which Annan and the United Nations as a whole were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2001. From 2005-2011 Ruggie served as the UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Business and Human Rights. His mandate was to propose measures to strengthen the human rights performance of the business sector around the world. The final product of his mandate, developed through nearly 50 international consultations, extensive research and pilot projects, was the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, endorsed unanimously by the UN Human Rights Council. Professor Ruggie chairs the board the New York-based non-profit Shift: Putting Principles into Practice. He also advised governments, companies and civil society organizations on the implementation of the UN Guiding Principles. He was tasked by FIFA, the governing body of international football, to align its policies and practices with the Guiding Principles
Professor Ruggie chaired the Board of the non-profit Shift, the leading center of expertise in business and human rights; and he was on the Board of Arabesque Asset Management Holding Company as well as Unilever’s Sustainability Advisory Council. His book Just Business: Multinational Corporations and Human Rights has been translated into Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese and Spanish.
Appointments
Berthold Beitz Professor in Human Rights and International Affairs, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, 2009
Kirkpatrick Professor of International Affairs, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, 2001-2009
Director, Center for Business and Government, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, 2002-2005
Affiliated Professor in International Legal Studies, Harvard Law School, since 2005
Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for Business and Human Rights, 2005-2011
Assistant Secretary-General, Senior Adviser for Strategic Planning to the Secretary General, United Nations, New York, 1997-2001
Burgess Professor of Political Science, James T. Shotwell Professor of International Relations, Columbia University, 1996-2001 (on public service leave 1997-2001)
Dean, School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University, 1991-1996 Professor of Political Science, Columbia University, 1991-1996
Professor of International Relations and Pacific Studies, University of California, San Diego, 1987-1991
Director, University of California (system-wide) Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation, 1989-1991
Professor of Political Science, Columbia University, 1983-1987
Associate Professor of Political Science, Columbia University, 1978-1983
Acting Assistant Professor/Assistant Professor of Political Science, University of California, Berkeley, 1973-1978
Jean Monnet Visiting Professor, European University Institute, Florence, May 1994
Visiting Professor, Institute of International Relations, Beijing University, Spring 1988
Visiting Research Fellow, The Royal Institute of International Affairs, London, 1976- 1977
Honors & Awards
2017, Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin (WZB) A.SK Award, honoring “researchers from the social sciences who have made an important contribution to political and economic reforms”
2016, World Order Under Law Award, American Bar Association
2014, First annual award, Center for International Governance Innovations, University of Waterloo, Canada, “for outstanding contributions to global governance”
2014, Global Environment Award, International Association for Impact Assessment, selected for producing the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights
2014, Harry LeRoy Jones Award, Washington Foreign Law Society, for “an individual who has made an outstanding contribution to the development and application of international law”
2012, Doctor of Letters (Honoris Causa), University of Waterloo, Canada
2008-2009, Guggenheim Fellow
2000, Doctor of Laws (Honoris Causa), McMaster University, Canada
2000, Hubert H. Humphrey Award for outstanding public service by a political scientist, American Political Science Association
1999, Fellow, American Academy of Arts & Sciences
1999, Distinguished Scholar Award, International Studies Association
Listed in Who’s Who in America; Who’s Who in the World; Europa Biographical Reference Series
Named among 25 most influential international relations scholars in the U.S. and Canada, Foreign Policy magazine, 2005
Named among “Top 10 Ethical Leaders of 2008,” Ethical Corporation magazine (UK)
Featured in:
Iver B. Neumann and Ole Waever, eds., The Future of International Relations: Masters in the Making (London: Routledge, 1997)
Sandra Waddock, The Difference Makers: How Social and Institutional Entrepreneurs Have Created the Corporate Social Responsibility Movement (Sheffield, UK: Greenleaf, 2008)
Mark Gerencser, Christopher Kelly, Fernando Napolitano, Reginald Van Lee, Megacommunities: How Leaders of Government, Business and Non-Profits Can Tackle Today’s Global Challenges Together (New York: Palgrave MacMillan, 2008)
Lexpert—The Business Magazine for Lawyers, February 2011
The European Lawyer, 103 February 2011
Radu Mares, ed.,The UN Guiding Principles on Business Human Rights (Leiden: Martinus Nijhoff, 2011)
Surya Deva & David Bilchitz, eds., Human Rights Obligations of Business: Beyond the Corporate Responsibility to Respect? (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2013)
Christine Bader, The Evolution of a Corporate Idealist: When Girl Meets Oil (Brookline, MA:Bibliomotion, 2014)
Cesar Rodriguez-Garavito, ed., Business and Human Rights: Beyond the End of the Beginning (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2017)
Karin Buhmann, Changing Sustainability Norms Through Communication Processes: The Emergence of the Business and Human Rights Regime as Transnational Law (Cheltenham, UK: Elgar, 2017)
Elected Memberships
Council on Foreign Relations, since 1990
Foreign Policy Association, Board of Governors, 1992-1995
United Nations Association of the USA, National Council, 1989-2009
Major Editorial Responsibilities
Editorial Boards:
International Organization, 1976-1981, 1983-1988, 1990-1995, 2002-2007
Chair, 1991- 1993; Senior Advisor, 2008-2021
Global Governance, 1994-2021
Global Policy, 2008-2021
World Politics, 1986-1989
Economics & Politics, 1987-1989
International Advisory Board, European Journal of International Relations, 1994-1998
General Editor, New Directions in World Politics (formerly The Political Economy of International Change), Columbia University Press series, 1982-1996; 31 books published.
Professional and Community Service
Chair of the Board, Shift (New York), 2011-2021
Chair of the Board, Institute for Human Rights and Business (London), 2012-2017
President, Association of Professional Schools of International Affairs, 1996; Secretary-Treasurer and President-Elect, 1995
Council, American Political Science Association, 1996-98
Program Committee, American Political Science Association, Annual Meeting, 1980, 1992
Board of Directors, Academic Council on the United Nations System, 1993-1996
International Advisory Committee, Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University (Japan), 1998-2001
Advisory Council, Stanley Foundation, 2001-2009
Board of Education, Bronxville, New York, 1986-87