[1][2] Ruelle studied physics at the Free University of Brussels, obtaining a PhD degree in 1959 under the supervision of Res Jost.

Later Ruelle helped to create a rigorous theory of statistical mechanics of equilibrium, that includes the study of the thermodynamic limit, the equivalence of ensembles, and the convergence of Mayer's series.

[9] Together with Floris Takens, he proposed the description of hydrodynamic turbulence based on strange attractors with chaotic properties of hyperbolic dynamics.

[10][11] Since 1985 David Ruelle has been a member of the French Academy of Sciences[12] and in 1988 he was Josiah Willard Gibbs Lecturer in Atlanta, Georgia.

[18] In 1985 David Ruelle was awarded the Dannie Heineman Prize for Mathematical Physics[19] and in 1986 he received the Boltzmann Medal for his outstanding contributions to statistical mechanics.