Ruth O'Brien

O'Brien was born in Spokane, Washington, and grew up in California. In 1977 she become a page in the U.S. House of Representatives after being nominated by Representative William M. Ketchum.[1] She earned a B.A. from Claremont Men's College (now Claremont McKenna College) as part of the first group of women to enroll, and a Ph.D. in political science from University of California, Los Angeles (1991).[2] Following her Ph.D., O'Brien taught at the University of Denver before moving to the City University of New York in 1993.[3] In 2003, she became the executive officer of the Ph.D./M.A. program in political science at the CUNY Graduate Center.[4] As of 2022, O'Brien is a professor at the City University of New York.[5]

O'Brien is known for her writings and discussions on the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990[6] and its implications for the workplace. Her book Crippled Justice was the first written history of the Americans with Disabilities Act, and was reviewed by Leonard Kriegel[7] and others.[8][9][10][11] In Bodies in Revolt she examined disability in the workplace, and this book was reviewed in Law & Society Review in 2008.[12] She has also published on Barack Obama's presidency.[13][14]

• O'Brien, Ruth (1998). Workers' Paradox : The Republican origins of New Deal labor policy, 1886-1935. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. ISBN 0-8078-6695-4. OCLC 45843939.
• O'Brien, Ruth (2001). Crippled Justice : the history of modern disability policy in the workplace. Chicago. ISBN 9780226616605.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
• O'Brien, Ruth (2003). "From a Doctor's to a Judge's Gaze: Epistemic Communities and the History of Disability Rights Policy in the Workplace". Polity. 35 (3): 325–346. doi:10.1086/POLv35n3ms3235522. ISSN 0032-3497. JSTOR 3235522. S2CID 158038229.
• O'Brien, Ruth (2005). Bodies in revolt : gender, disability, and a workplace ethic of care. New York: Routledge. ISBN 978-1-135-39324-3. OCLC 846494690.
• O'Brien, Ruth (2013). Out of many, one : Obama and the third American political tradition. Foreword by Thomas Byrne Edsall. Chicago. ISBN 978-0-226-04159-9. OCLC 809911073.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
• O'Brien, Ruth (2005-01-01). "Other Voices at the Workplace: Gender, Disability, and an Alternative Ethic of Care". Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society. 30 (2): 1529–1555. doi:10.1086/423350. ISSN 0097-9740. S2CID 145655270.