Ruth T. Zaplin is a senior executive-in-residence, School of Public Affairs, Key Executive Leadership Programs at American University.

Dr. Zaplin served as a senior advisor and project director with the National Academy of Public Administration in Washington, DC, and founded the Academy’s Global Leadership Consortium. Selected achievements include: leadership development, succession planning, and diversity study for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; designing a Government Center for Innovation to strengthen the capability of the State of Qatar’s public sector leaders and serve as a leadership development model of excellence for the Middle East; and leading the organizational change effort to integrate the core IRS financial management systems. Equally adept at bridging research, organizational theory and practice, her background includes executive leadership of a nationally known non-governmental organization and social science research in criminal justice.

Dr. Zaplin has two nationally known textbooks in criminal justice and numerous book chapters related to leadership development. She holds a DPA, MPA, MA, and BA. She is certified to score the subject-object qualitative research methodology developed at Harvard University. She received her Executive Coaching accreditation from Georgetown University and is certified as a Professional Certified Coach (PCC) by the International Coach Federation.