Ralph Leslie Rusk was an American academic and writer who spent much of his career teaching English literature at major universities. He began his teaching career at the University of the Philippines during the early 1910s before moving to Indiana University, where he taught English from 1915 to 1925. In 1925, Rusk joined Columbia University, where he continued to teach English. He remained at Columbia for nearly three decades until his retirement in 1954, establishing himself as a significant figure in American academic circles during the mid-twentieth century.