Mr. Roger T. Rufe, Jr.

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.