Rusty Rueff

BA 1984, Radio and TV; MS 1986, College of Education

Advisor, Philanthropist, Author

Rusty Rueff invests in, advises and governs startups. He was appointed by President Obama to The President’s  Advisory Committee for the Arts for The Kennedy Center and was Coordinating National Co-Chair for Technology for Obama and on the Executive Team for Innovators for Biden. He is a corporate Director of Alioth talent (co-founder), runcoach, and Flour + Water Hospitality Group. He was on the founding boards of Glassdoor (acquired 2018) and HireVue (acquired 2019).  Rusty was CEO of SNOCAP, Inc. through the sale of the company in 2008. Prior, he was an EVP at Electronic Arts (EA) responsible for global HR, Talent Management, Corporate Services/Facilities, Corporate Communications/Government Affairs, reporting to EA’s Chairman and CEO. Prior to EA, Rusty worked 10 years for the PepsiCo companies, concluding as a Vice President, International HR. Before that, he worked at Pratt & Whitney/United Technologies.  In addition, he spent six years in commercial radio as an on-air personality. He holds an Honorary Doctorate from Hanover College, an M.S. in Counseling, and a B.A. in Radio & TV from Purdue University. In 2003, he was named a Distinguished Purdue Alumni. He and his wife are the named benefactors of Purdue’s Patti and Rusty Rueff School of Design, Art and Performance.  He serves on the Purdue President’s College of Liberal Arts Dean’s Advisory Committee. He previously served on the University of Rhode Island Foundation Board and now serves on URI’s Edwards Society. He is a Trustee (and former President) of the Board of San Francisco’s American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.), a member of the Board of The National Council for the American Theater, former Chair of The Grammy Foundation in LA, and a founding Board Member of The GRAMMY Music Education Coalition.  In 2013, he co-founded Tech4America (T4A.org). He co-authored Talent Force: A New Manifesto for the Human Side of Business (Prentice-Hall, 2006) and The Faith Code: A Future-Proof Framework for a Life of Meaning and Impact (Morehouse, 2023). Rusty regularly writes for his blog Purposed worKING and is the co-founder and co-host of The Faith Driven Entrepreneur podcast. Rusty, his wife Patti, and Theo (French Bulldog), reside in Burlingame, CA. and Charlestown, RI.