Christopher von Rueden, Ph.D., is a professor of leadership studies at the University of Richmond.

He studies social status in small-scale human societies. His research investigates (1) how status is acquired over the life-course, (2) the reproductive and health consequences of status, and (3) the effects of socio-ecological change on status inequality. His empirical work focuses on the Tsimane forager-horticulturalists of Bolivia. Additional, related research foci of his include the evolution of personality, father effects on child well-being, and leadership and its role in collective action in small-scale societies.