Ruth Wilson Gilmore

Ruth Wilson Gilmore is a Professor in the Earth and Environmental Sciences Ph.D. program at The Graduate Center, City University of New York, and director of the Center for Place, Culture and Politics. She is a leading scholar in the abolition movement, focusing on racial capitalism, carceral geography, and the African diaspora.

• Ph.D., Rutgers University

Her research explores intersections of race, space, and political economy, emphasizing structural adjustment, prison abolition, and environmental justice. She has contributed to critical discussions on surplus populations, organized violence, and urban-rural continuities.

Her recent publications address carceral systems, Black radicalism, and spatial justice. Awards include the Lannan Foundation Lifetime Cultural Freedom Prize (2020), the American Studies Association’s mentorship award (2017), and the Association of American Geographers’ Lifetime Achievement Award (2020).

• American Studies Association Angela Y. Davis Award for Public Scholarship (2012)
• Association of American Geographers Harold Rose Award for Anti-Racist Research and Practice (2014)
• SUNY-Purchase College Eugene V. Grant Distinguished Scholar Prize (2015–16)

Gilmore co-founded grassroots organizations like Critical Resistance and the California Prison Moratorium Project, advancing public scholarship and activism. She serves on the executive committee of the Institute for Research on the African Diaspora in the Americas and the Caribbean.