Professor Matthias Ruth is Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research at the University of York. Most previously, he served as Vice-President (Research and Innovation) and Professor in the Department of Economics at the University of Alberta, Canada.
Prior to that, he was Director of the School of Public Policy and Urban Affairs and Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Northeastern University in Boston, USA.
Professor Ruth holds a master’s degree in economics from the University of Heidelberg, Germany, and a PhD in geography from the University of Illinois, where he also received training in engineering and biology. He began his academic career in the Department of Geography at Boston University in 1992 and moved to the University of Maryland in 2000, where he was Professor and Director of the Environmental Policy Program in the School of Public Policy and Director of the University’s program in Engineering and Public Policy.
Professor Ruth served in roles of increasing responsibility at the University of Maryland, including the Roy F. Weston Chair in Natural Economics and policy advisor on sustainability to the Chancellor of the 12 universities and colleges that constitute the state-wide system of Maryland. In 2012, Prof Ruth joined Northeastern University in Boston as professor in the School of Public Policy and Urban Affairs as well as the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering.
He has published 20 books, plus more than 150 papers and book chapters. His interdisciplinary research focuses on dynamic modelling of natural resource use, industrial and infrastructure systems analysis, and environmental economics and policy. His theoretical work draws on concepts from engineering, economics and ecology, while his applied research uses methods of non-linear dynamic modelling as well as adaptive and anticipatory management. He is a founding editor-in-chief of the journal Urban Climate, a founder of Ecological Economics, and serves on the boards of numerous journals and scientific organisations.