Teofilo F. Ruiz (born 1943) is a

Cuban-American Cuban Americans ( es, cubanoestadounidenses or ''cubanoamericanos'') are Americans who trace their cultural heritage to Cuba regardless of phenotype or ethnic origin. The word may refer to someone born in the United States of Cuban descent or ...

medieval historian and professor currently at

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California S ...

(UCLA). In 2012, he was awarded the

National Humanities Medal The National Humanities Medal is an American award that annually recognizes several individuals, groups, or institutions for work that has "deepened the nation's understanding of the humanities, broadened our citizens' engagement with the human ...

by former President Barack Obama. He is consistently rated as one of the most popular professors at UCLA, and has published many books as well as dozens of articles in scholarly journals as well as reviews and smaller articles.

Early life

Born in

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

, Ruiz was active during the

Cuban Revolution The Cuban Revolution ( es, Revolución Cubana) was carried out after the 1952 Cuban coup d'état which placed Fulgencio Batista as head of state and the failed mass strike in opposition that followed. After failing to contest Batista in co ...

. At age of 17, he fought against the regime of

Fulgencio Batista Fulgencio Batista y Zaldívar (; ; born Rubén Zaldívar, January 16, 1901 – August 6, 1973) was a Cuban military officer and politician who served as the elected president of Cuba from 1940 to 1944 and as its U.S.-backed military dictator ...

. When his friend was killed in 1960, he resigned from the revolution and was immediately imprisoned. Ruiz was eventually released after the failed

Bay of Pigs Invasion The Bay of Pigs Invasion (, sometimes called ''Invasión de Playa Girón'' or ''Batalla de Playa Girón'' after the Playa Girón) was a failed military landing operation on the southwestern coast of Cuba in 1961 by Cuban exiles, covertly fin ...

(1961) in order to make room for new prisoners of war. In 1961, Ruiz left Cuba for

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...

with "only three changes of clothing, $45, a box of Cuban cigars to sell and a Spanish translation of Jacob Burckhardt's ''A History of Greek Civilization''." By 1962, Ruiz and two cousins moved from

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

. He worked at various jobs including as a taxi driver for one year. Despite many obstacles, Ruiz finished his dissertation in the Graduate School of

Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...

by 1974.

Career

Ruiz was a student of American medievalist

Joseph Strayer Joseph Reese Strayer (1904–1987) was an American medievalist historian. He was a student of and mentored by Charles Homer Haskins, America's first prominent medievalist historian. Life Strayer taught at Princeton University for many decades, st ...

and received his

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

from

in 1974. Besides UCLA, he has taught at Brooklyn College, the

CUNY Graduate Center The Graduate School and University Center of the City University of New York (CUNY Graduate Center) is a public research institution and post-graduate university in New York City. Serving as the principal doctorate-granting institution of the C ...

, the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

, Michigan State University, the

École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales The School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences (french: École des hautes études en sciences sociales; EHESS) is a graduate ''grande école'' and '' grand établissement'' in Paris focused on academic research in the social sciences. The ...

, and

. He served as chair of the UCLA Department of History from 2002 to 2005. He has lectured in the US, Spain, Italy, France, England, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, and nations in Asia. In 2008, Ruiz was named chair of the UCLA Department of Spanish and Portuguese.

Awards and honors

In 1994 he was selected by the Carnegie Foundation as one of the four Outstanding Teachers of the Year in the United States. In 2007, Ruiz was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship for his project on festivals, rituals, and power in late medieval and early modern Spain. On February 13, 2012 former President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the ...

awarded Ruiz a 2011

at the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in ...

. In 2013, Ruiz was elected into

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, a ...

and the same year was named

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, and the most prestigious, due in part to its long history and academic selectivity. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal ...

Visiting Scholar. Ruiz is honored in UCLA's Covel Commons as a recipient of the UCLA Alumni Association's Distinguished Teaching Award.

Works

*''Spanish Society, 1348-1700'' (2017) Second edition *''Spain's Centuries of Crisis: 1300 - 1474'' (2011) *''Braudel Revisited: The Mediterranean World 1600-1800'', eds. Gabriel Piterberg, Geoffrey Symcox and Teofilo Ruiz (University of Toronto Press, 2018). *''Medieval Europe and the World : From Late Antiquity to Modernity, 400-1500'' (2005) *''From Heaven to Earth: The Reordering of Castilian Society in the Late Middle Ages'' (2004) *''Spanish Society, 1400–1600 (Social History of Europe)'' (2002) *''Crisis and Continuity: Land and Town in Late Medieval Castile'' (1994) *''The City and the Realm: Burgos and Castile 1080–1492'' (1992) *''Medieval Spain, 711-1492'' *''Medieval Europe: Crisis and Renewal''. Course No. 863 The Teaching Company *''The Terror of History: Mystics, Heretics, and Witches in the Western Tradition''. Course No. 893 The Teaching Company, 2002 *''Other 1492: Ferdinand, Isabella, and the Making of an Empire''. Course No. 899 The Teaching Company

Tours

He leads tours for Far Horizons Archaeological and Cultural trips.Far Horizons
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References

External links

Home page"The Consolation of History – A Conversation with Teo Ruiz"
''Ideas Roadshow'', 2015 {{DEFAULTSORT:Ruiz, Teofilo 1943 births Living people Cuban emigrants to the United States American medievalists American taxi drivers Cuban taxi drivers Princeton University alumni University of Michigan faculty Michigan State University faculty City University of New York faculty Brooklyn College faculty University of California, Los Angeles faculty Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences National Humanities Medal recipients Historians from California