Kai Ruggeri, PhD

Dr. Kai Ruggeri is a Professor in the Department of Health Policy & Management. He studies fundamental questions of population behavior and decision-making, primarily financial and health. He focuses on how integrating behavioral evidence into policies can reduce inequalities and benefit the well-being of entire populations.

His recent projects involve behavioral policy studies focusing on large-scale data related to economic choices and related outcomes, which have been covered in media around the world. Collaborating partners include local and national governments, non-profit organizations, industry, and other academic institutions, in New York, across the US, and abroad. Kai joined Columbia in 2017 after founding the Policy Research Group at the University of Cambridge, which he joined in 2011. 

At Mailman, he teaches courses in analytics, behavior and decision-making, public policy, and managerial economics. Kai also founded and directs the Global Behavioral Science (GLOBES) program at Columbia. He is a Senior Fellow at the Centre for Business Research in the Judge Business School at the University of Cambridge, as well as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and Sciences. Kai completed his PhD at Queen's University, Belfast, in Northern Ireland. He is an Officer in the US Air Force/New York Air National Guard.