James Luin "Skip" Rutherford III (born January 28, 1950) is an American non-profit executive and academic administrator. He served as the first president of the

Clinton Foundation The Clinton Foundation (founded in 2001 as the William J. Clinton Presidential Foundation, and renamed in 2013 as the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation) is a nonprofit organization under section 501(c)(3) of the U.S. tax code. It was e ...

, and is the Dean of the University of Arkansas

Clinton School of Public Service The Clinton School of Public Service is a branch of the University of Arkansas system and is the newest of the presidential schools. It is located on the grounds of the Clinton Presidential Center in Little Rock. The school is housed in the Choct ...

, since 2006.

Early life

James Luin Rutherford III was born on January 28, 1950 in

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the County seat, seat of Shelby County, Tennessee, Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 Uni ...

. He is the only child of James Luin Rutherford Jr (1921-2014), a banker and landowner, and his wife Kathleen Rutherford (née Roberson). Rutherford was brought up in

Batesville, Arkansas Batesville is the county seat and largest city of Independence County, Arkansas, United States, 80 miles (183 km) northeast of Little Rock, the state capital. According to the 2010 Census, the population of the city was 10,268. The city serve ...

and educated at Batesville High School. Rutherford received a bachelor's degree from the

University of Arkansas The University of Arkansas (U of A, UArk, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Fayetteville, Arkansas. It is the flagship campus of the University of Arkansas System and the largest university in the state. Founded as Arkansas ...

, where he was editor of their student newspaper,

The Arkansas Traveler Arkansas Traveler or Arkansas Traveller may refer to: *Arkansas Traveler (folklore), a figure of 19th-century American folklore said to have originated with Sandford C. Faulkner Music * ''Arkansas Traveler'' (Michelle Shocked album), album *'' ...

, in 1971-72.

Career

In 1992, he was a key advisor on

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (Birth name, né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 ...

's presidential campaign. In 1997 he became the first president of the

, and was still heading the board at the end of 2004, when the other directors were Senator

David Pryor David Hampton Pryor (born August 29, 1934) is an American politician and former Democratic United States Representative and United States Senator from the State of Arkansas. Pryor also served as the 39th Governor of Arkansas from 1975 to 1979 ...

, Ann Jordan,

Terrence McAuliffe Terence Richard McAuliffe (born February 9, 1957) is an American businessman and politician who served as the 72nd governor of Virginia from 2014 to 2018. A member of the Democratic Party, he was co-chairman of President Bill Clinton's 1996 ...

, and

Cheryl Mills Cheryl D. Mills (born 1965) is an American lawyer and corporate executive. She first came into public prominence while serving as deputy White House Counsel for President Bill Clinton, whom she defended during his 1999 impeachment trial. She has ...

. In 2006, Rutherford was chairman of the Clinton Foundation, executive vice president of Cranford Johnson Robinson Woods, a communications firm in Little Rock, and a visiting professor at the

University of Central Arkansas The University of Central Arkansas (Central Arkansas or UCA) is a public university in Conway, Arkansas. Founded in 1907 as the Arkansas State Normal School, the university is one of the oldest in the U.S. state of Arkansas. As the state's only n ...

. Rutherford has been the Dean of the University of Arkansas

, since April 2006, when he succeeded Senator

Personal life

Rutherford and his wife Billie have three children.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rutherford, Skip 1950 births Clinton Foundation people living people people from Memphis, Tennessee University of Arkansas alumni University of Arkansas faculty