S. Alex Ruthmann is an Associate Professor and Area Head of Interactive Media and Business at the NYU Shanghai Program on Creativity and Innovation, where he teaches courses at the intersection of music, business, education, technology, design, and entrepreneurship. Alex leads the NYU Music Experience Design Lab, which researches and co-designs new technologies and experiences for music-making, learning, and engagement with youth, school, community, and industry partners worldwide. He is an associated professor in NYU Steinhardt's Departments of Music and Performing Arts Professions and affiliate faculty in the Department of Administration, Leadership, and Technology. Ruthmann co-developed the Play With Your Music project at New York University in collaboration with the MIT Media Lab, Peter Gabriel, and P2PU; and the Math Science Music Initiative together with Herbie Hancock and the US Department of Education. He is the PI of the Sustainable Entrepreneurship in the Performing Arts NEA Research Lab funded by the US National Endowment for the Arts. He works collaboratively with student and faculty researchers in the NYU Shanghai Frontiers Science Center of Artificial Intelligence and Deep Learning and the NYU Music and Audio Research Lab on applying experience design research and development methods to multimodal AI and music technology applications for creative learning and cultural engagement.

Ruthmann has been an active ISME member since 2004, recently completing a six-year term as a Commissioner of the ISME Music in Schools and Teacher Education (MISTEC) Commission from 2014-2020, serving as Chair from 2018-2020. He is currently Co-Editor of ISME's International Journal of Music Education.