Ruth Schmidt is an associate professor at the Institute of Design (ID) at Illinois Tech, whose research sits at the intersection of behavioral science, humanity-centered design, and complex systems. Her work focuses on addressing private sector and public policy behavioral challenges more systematically and equitably through applied insights and conceptual models. Prior to joining ID, Ruth was a senior innovation leader at Doblin | Deloitte, where she developed strategic behavioral design approaches for healthcare and financial services contexts and helped clients embed innovation processes and capabilities more effectively within their organizations.