Mr. Roger T. Rufe, Jr.
Vice Admiral, U.S. Coast Guard (Retired)
Fellow
Vice Admiral Roger Rufe currently serves as a conservation and environmental policy
consultant. In this capacity, he is providing strategic advice on addressing the
safety and environmental threats posed by increased shipping activity in the Arctic.
He also serves as a Fellow of the Center for Arctic Study and Policy at the U.S.
Coast Guard Academy.
During his 34 year Coast Guard career, Vice Admiral Rufe served as captain of five
Coast Guard cutters, was vice chairman of the interagency National Response Team,
chief of the Coast Guard Congressional Affairs Staff and a U.S. delegate to the
Marine Environment Protection Committee of the International Maritime Organization
in London. As a flag officer, he commanded the 17th Coast Guard District in Alaska
with responsibility for the North Pacific and the U.S. Arctic and the 7th Coast
Guard District in Miami with responsibility for waters of the Southeast U.S. and
the Caribbean. He then led the Coast Guard’s two largest field commands first as
Commander, Pacific Area and later Commander, Atlantic Area.
After retirement from the Coast Guard, Vice Admiral Rufe became President and CEO
of Ocean Conservancy, a national environmental non-government organization that
advocates for science-based ocean conservation and protection of marine wildlife.
He was a director of the Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation, a director
of the International SeaKeepers Society and a member of the Pew Oceans Commission.
He left Ocean Conservancy to serve a three year secretarial term appointment as
the first Director of the Office of Operations Coordination and Planning at the
U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
Vice Admiral Rufe earned a Bachelor of Science degree from the U.S. Coast Guard
Academy, a Master in Public Administration degree from New York University and is
a graduate of the National War College and the Naval War College. He is a past President
of the National War College Alumni Association Board of Directors and a chairman
emeritus of the Association for Rescue at Sea. In 2015, he was named that year’s
Distinguished Alumnus of the U. S. Coast Guard Academy.