Christopher J. Ruhm is Professor of Public Policy and Economics at the University of Virginia. He received his doctorate in economics from the University of California at Berkeley. Prior to joining UVA, he held faculty positions at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and Boston University. During 1996–97, he served as Senior Economist on President Clinton’s Council of Economic Advisers. He is currently a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research and a Research Fellow at the Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
Professor Ruhm’s recent research focuses on how various aspects of health are produced—including the rise in drug deaths and obesity, and the relationship between macroeconomic conditions and health—and on parental leave and other work-family policies. He is coauthor of two books and has more than 80 pieces published as book chapters and articles in academic journals. His research has been cited in media outlets including The New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Business Week, CNN, ABC, CBS, BBC and NPR.
Ruhm has received external research funding from a diverse set of organizations. He is currently associate editor of the Journal of Health Economics and the Southern Economic Journal, on the editorial board of the American Journal of Health Economics, Economics Letters and the Journal of Labor Research, President-Elect of the Southern Economic Association, on the Board of Directors of the American Society of Health Economists and a steering committee member of the Southeastern Health Economics Study Group.
