Jessica Ruglis, MAT ’02, has been named a Kellogg Health Scholar. She is one of just 11 individuals from across the country selected for the prestigious and highly competitive program, run by the Center for Advancing Health through a grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.

The program was launched in 1998 to develop new leadership in the effort to reduce and eliminate health disparities and to secure equal access to the conditions and services essential for achieving healthy communities.

A former teacher, Ruglis also holds an M.P.H. in Urban Public Health/Community Health Education from Hunter College; a B.S. in Human Biology from University at Albany; and in May, 2009, she completed her Ph.D. in Urban Education from the Graduate Center of The City University of New York.

She will complete the Kellogg Health Scholar program, which is a two-year post-doctoral fellowship, at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, MD.

Ruglis says the Union Graduate College MAT program plays an important role in her work and accomplishments. “My growth has fundamentally grown out of my time at Union Graduate College and I am honored and proud to have my roots there,” she said.

With an interest in policy, Jessica has served as a legal consultant for State Supreme court cases on issues of educational inequity and consequences of diploma denial due to implementation of high stakes exit exams, as well as for a New York City court case dealing with child welfare.

Ruglis’ Ph.D. dissertation was a mixed method, youth participatory action research project that investigates connections between schooling, education and health; and which culminates in positing schooling as a social determinant of health. Jessica's work also (re)theorizes school dropout and introduces a new critical theory of school non-completion. Her research experience includes community based participatory research projects that study corporate disease promotion practices; the intersections between the education, health, and criminal justice systems in New York City; and the role of a school based health center in academic achievement and community health.

Congratulations, Jessica!

To learn more about the Union Graduate College MAT program, click here: http://uniongraduatecollege.edu/pages/schools/education/degreeeducation.asp