Cathy Ruse, JD has devoted her career to promoting the dignity of the human person, a career that spans the fields of communication, public policy, law, and language remediation.
With over twenty years’ experience in the complicated legal areas of abortion, bioethics, and family, religious liberty, pornography, and free speech, Mrs. Ruse is uniquely equipped to contribute to the public discussion on the most pressing social issues of our day. Wired magazine called her “one of the most influential opinion shapers in the country.”
Currently, Mrs. Ruse serves as Family Research Council’s Senior Fellow for Legal Studies. Additionally, she is Legal Supervisor for Ave Maria School of Law/Culture of Life Foundation Washington Externship Program and a Certified Dyslexia Therapist.
Mrs. Ruse has been a frequent lecturer for Alliance Defending Freedom’s Blackstone Fellowship, a public policy program for law students, and the Young America’s Foundation’s Faith and Freedom Seminar for high school and college students. She also serves as Governor of Ave Maria School of Law.
Mrs. Ruse previously served as Chief Counsel of the Constitution Subcommittee in the U.S. House of Representatives. Other policy and advocacy positions include: Pro-life spokesman for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, executive director of Life Prizes, legal counsel for the National Law Center for Children and Families (fighting pornography and sexual exploitation), legal fellow for Americans United for Life, and communications director for the Missouri Coalition Against Human Cloning. Prior to her policy and advocacy work, Mrs. Ruse practiced law in the District of Columbia.
Mrs. Ruse has made numerous media appearances, including debate formats such as PBS’ “Firing Line” and CNN’s “Crossfire,” and was co-host of the cable television show Legal Notebook. Her columns have been published in the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, the Christian Science Monitor, the Washington Times, National Review Online, First Things, Human Events, Brietbart News, the Daily Caller, Crisis Magazine, the Daily Signal, The Stream, and the National Catholic Register. She has filed amicus curiae briefs with the U.S. Supreme Court and has testified as an expert in congressional hearings in the U.S. House and Senate.
She received a Doctor of Jurisprudence from Georgetown University and a Doctor of Humane Letters Honoris Causa from Franciscan University. In the field of Academic Language/Dyslexia Therapy, she is certified by the Atlantic Seaboard Dyslexia Education Center, the International Dyslexia Association, and the Academic Language Therapy Association.
Mrs. Ruse was awarded an Abraham Lincoln Graduate Fellowship in Constitutional Government from the Claremont Institute. She and her husband Austin received the John Paul II Award for Advancing the Culture of Life from the Institute for the Psychological Sciences and the Defender of Life Award from Students for Life of America. They are the proud parents of two wonderful daughters.