Stephen Ruckman is the managing director for SNF Agora, where he works closely with the director and team to advance the institute’s research and teaching missions and support delivery of all institute activities. Prior to joining the institute, he held a number of policy roles in the government and nonprofit sectors, most recently serving as JHU’s senior adviser to the president for policy.
Over his career, Ruckman has worked in both federal and state government and for both houses of Parliament. An attorney by training, he was senior policy adviser in the Enforcement Bureau of the Federal Communications Commission and an assistant attorney general in the Maryland Office of the Attorney General, where he handled policy matters ranging from campaign finance reform to consumers’ online privacy. He also worked as a fellow and program manager of the Hills Program on Governance at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Ruckman graduated magna cum laude from Amherst College, receiving his B.A. in political ethics and music. He holds a J.D. from Yale Law School, a M.A.R. in Ethics from Yale Divinity School, and a M.Sc. in Philosophy, Policy, and Social Value from the London School of Economics, which he attended as a Fulbright Scholar. He is a member of the bar in Maryland and Washington, D.C.