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George Ruckert is a Senior Lecturer Emeritus in the Department of Music at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he joined the faculty in 1992. His academic background includes a Master’s degree in Music Theory Composition from Queens College and a Ph.D. in Ethnomusicology from the University of California, Berkeley. Ruckert's primary research area is classical music of North India, where he studied for over twenty years under the eminent sarod master Ali Akbar Khan. As a sarod artist, he has performed extensively across the United States, Canada, Europe, and India and has recorded several CDs. He is also a composer and arranger of various scores for Kathak dance and has authored five books on North Indian music. In 1993, he founded MITHAS, a concert organization that operates as part of the Department of Music, successfully producing 150 concerts and lectures over twenty-four years, showcasing distinguished artists from India, Europe, and North America. In addition to his primary focus, Ruckert has explored fiddle traditions in Canada, Ireland, and Scotland, compiling and publishing music associated with the late Cape Breton fiddler John Campbell. Now retired, he teaches a course on Music of North India during the spring semesters.