Professor
Teofilo F. Ruiz
University of California, Los Angeles
Historian; Medievalist; Educator
Area
Humanities and Arts
Specialty
History
Elected
2013
Distinguished Professor of History and Spanish and Portuguese Literature; Peter H. Reill Term Chair in European History. Ruiz is a leading historian focused on the society and cultural representations of medieval and early modern Spain. In a succession of eight monographs and dozens of articles, he has described the peculiar place of Castile in the landscape of medieval Europe. Looking beyond the stereotyped conceptualization of the frontier and confrontation with Islam, he has demonstrated the ambitious policies of Castile's kings, its urban and rural economy, and the move from a complex meeting of cultures to more complex forms of deploying power and enforcing religious conformity. His work is informed by careful attention to such varied phenomena as public celebrations, peasant labor, the natural environment, and the symbols of royal power. In addition to his research, he is a legendary teacher who inspired thousands of students, many of them first generation college students, with a love of the humanities, of history, and of the drama of the Middle Ages. While at Brooklyn College, he received the Carnegie Foundation award as national Teacher of the Year in the category of master's level universities, and at UCLA he has received the distinguished teaching award. Ruiz was awarded a Guggenheim fellowship in 2007-08 and received the National Humanities Medal from President Obama in 2012.
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