She held the position of Assistant Professor on the University’s Tampa campus from August 2001 to 2003. In December 2001, Dr. Ruva obtained her Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of South Florida in the area of Cognitive and Neural Sciences. She taught a variety or psychology courses as a graduate student on the Tampa campus earning three awards for teaching excellence. Dr. Ruva obtained her B.A. from the University of Tampa. After receiving her B.A. degree she worked as a probation and parole officer for the state of Florida where she held the position of sex offender specialist.