Faculty

John Ruys Ph.D.

John Ruys leads the new LGBTQ studies program but has been a part of the psychology program at Las Positas College since 2006. He earned his undergraduate degree from University of California, Davis in psychology. He then returned to U.C. Davis to complete his master's and doctoral degrees working in a laboratory that was studying the effects of social stress on primate models of HIV. Following that work, John moved to Wake Forest University in North Carolina for a postdoctoral fellowship investigating the effects of adolescent drug and alcohol use on brain and behavioral development in nonhuman primates.

John has been teaching in the college and university system for over 20 years. I truly love to support student development and helping students explore their professional and career interests. More recently, John has started to conduct research in his free time. Students working with John have begun to study how human use facial and vocal cues to determine sexual orientation and emotional states. John’s interests are in queer studies, LGBTQ psychology, addiction, and adolescent development.

John lives in Oakland with his husband and teenaged children. When not teaching, John loves to travel with his family and friends, sing karaoke (badly) with students, and jog with his chocolate lab, Cordelia.