Elena Ruíz

Biography

Dr. Elena Ruíz (she/her) is the founder and director of the Research Institute for Structural Change (RISC) at Michigan State University. She holds a tenured faculty appointment in philosophy and has affiliations in American Indian and Indigenous Studies, Chicano and Latino Studies, The Research Consortium on Gender-Based Violence, and The Center for Gender in a Global Context at MSU. At RISC, Dr. Ruíz develops social action research programs in coordination with community organizations dedicated to structural change. She serves as an advocate for survivors and has authored dozens of articles in leading journals and publications on gender-based violence and structural oppression. She has served as Principal Researcher on Gender-Based Violence for the MeToo organization and is the author of Structural Violence (Oxford University Press). Dr. Ruíz is currently accepting dual enrollment (JD, MD, MPH, PPA) doctoral students working on structural and policy-based solutions for gender-based violence (sexual assault, rape, DV, IPV, TDV) in law and healthcare.

For more information on RISC, visit https://structuralinstitute.org/