He had no college degree, withdrawing from the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn after a few years due to stress.
He was awarded an honorary Doctor of Science degree from his alma mater Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn, as well as from Columbia University in the Department of Chemical Engineering and Applied Science where he served as a Senior Staff Associate, and Butler University.
[4] Ruben teamed with Philip Mallory to create what would become Duracell International.
Ruben developed the mercury button cell in 1942 to replace the zinc-carbon batteries at a request from the Army Signal Corps.
With over 100 inventions credited to him personally, one of the most important was the dry electrolytic aluminium capacitor,[6] the solid-state magnesium/cupric sulfide rectifier (a device that converted regular household electric current for use in radios), the vacuum tube relay, the quick heater vacuum tube, and the concept of a balanced-cell mercury battery.