Ruddy grew up on Long Island in Williston Park, New York, where his father was a police officer in Nassau County. He graduated from Chaminade High School in Mineola, New York before graduating summa cum laude with a degree in history from St. John's University, New York in 1987.St. John's University, Honor Roll of Donors, Benefactors' Council : Christopher W. Ruddy '87 CBA; retrieved 2007-12-31. He earned a master's degree in public policy from the London School of Economics and also studied at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem as an undergrad.Profile, BusinessWeek.com; accessed February 24, 2015. He worked briefly as a bilingual high school social studies teacher in the Bronx, New York. Ruddy holds an Honorary Doctorate of Letters from St. John's University.
