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 strategic planning associated with leveraging the use of Information Technology in large organizations, with particular emphasis on the effect of Knowledge Management policies on the work of dispersed teams. Ruth's consultancies include National Archives and Records Administration, PriceWaterhouse 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, The 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, Professor Ruth has received grant and contract awards totaling nearly $4 million and is also served as Associate Director of the Commonwealth of Virginia's $2 million Internet Technology Innovation Center (ITIC) project, which links Virginia's university research centers to the high tech businesses in the state. His international IT projects cover thirty 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 ten 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 was a Commonwealth of Virginia Outstanding Professor honoree.

Dr. Ruth received his BS from the U.S. Naval Academy and MS from the Navy Postgraduate School, and served twenty-three years in the Navy, retiring with the rank of Captain. His PhD is from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. He is author or co-author of over one hundred published articles and four books.