KENNETH P. RUSCIO

Kenneth P. Ruscio officially begins his sixth year as the 26th president of Washington and Lee University in July of 2011. 

Ruscio, a graduate and former professor of politics at the University, returned to Washington and Lee after having served as Dean of the Jepson School of Leadership Studies at the University of Richmond since 2002.

Ruscio, who was born in Red Bank, N.J., earned a B.A. degree, major in politics from Washington and Lee in 1976 and earned an Master’s in Public Administration and Ph.D. from Syracuse University’s Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs in 1978 and 1983, respectively. Before assuming his current post at the University of Richmond, Ruscio was a professor of politics, associate dean of the Williams School of Commerce, Economics, and Politics, and dean of freshmen at W&L.

Ruscio has also taught at Worcester Polytechnic Institute and Kansas University. He was a postdoctoral research scholar at the University of California, Los Angeles. He recently completed his second term as national president of Omicron Delta Kappa, a national leadership society begun at W&L in 1914 that now has chapters at over 300 campuses. He has led, and served on, dozens of academic, professional, and civic committees.

He has authored numerous articles and essays and the book The Leadership Dilemma in Modern Democracy (Edward Elgar Publishing, Inc. 2004). He is married to the former Kimberley O’Donnell of New York. They have a son, Matthew Christopher.