Full Name
Will Ruger
Job Title
Vice President for Research and Policy
Company
Charles Koch Institute
Speaker Bio
Dr. William Ruger is a foreign policy thought leader, Navy veteran, scholar, and former tenured professor with more than 20 years of experience in the education realm, including teaching courses on foreign policy, international relations, counterterrorism, and security studies.

Ruger serves as the Vice President for Research and Policy at the Charles Koch Institute and the Vice President, Foreign Policy at Stand Together. He was previously an Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science at Texas State University and an adjunct Assistant Professor at the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas-Austin.

Ruger is a veteran of the Afghanistan War and was awarded the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, the Afghanistan Campaign medal with campaign star, and the Non-Article 5 NATO Service Medal, among other awards. He remains an officer in the U.S. Navy (Reserve Component).

Ruger earned his Ph.D. in Politics from Brandeis University and an A.B. from the College of William and Mary. His scholarship has appeared in a number of academic journals, including International Studies Quarterly, Civil Wars, and Armed Forces and Society. He is the author of the biography Milton Friedman and co-author of two books on state politics, including Freedom in the 50 States (now in its 5th edition).

Ruger has written editorials for numerous outlets such as the New York Times, the Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, and USA Today, and he has been interviewed frequently for television and radio, appearing on Fox News, MSNBC, and CNN. He serves on several non-profit boards, including the Board of Directors of The Center for the National Interest and the Advisory Board of the Policing Project at the New York University School of Law.
Will Ruger