Jere Ratcliffe
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jere Brian Ratcliffe is a retired professional Scouter in the Boy Scouts of America who was the ninth Chief Scout Executive. Ratcliffe grew up in Springfield, Ohio where he met his wife, the former Judy Jones. He was awarded Eagle Scout in 1955. After graduating from Wittenberg University in 1959, he volunteered at the Scout center of the North Florida Council in Jacksonville, Florida. He decided to make a career as a Scouting professional and attended the National Training School. His first position was as the district executive in what is now the Blue Ridge Council of Greenville, South Carolina. He was first assigned as a Scout executive in 1976, later becoming the Scout executive of the Heart of America Council in Kansas City, Missouri where he became Chief Soaring Lone Eagle of the Tribe of Mic-O-Say. He was then the Scout executive for the Chicago Area Council.
On February 1, 1993, he accepted the position of the Chief Scout Executive and moved to National in Irving, Texas. In April of 1997, Ratcliffe was arrested at Miami International Airport when the security scan showed he had inadvertently left a handgun in his luggage.[1] In October of 1999 he received the Order of the Arrow Distinguished Service Award.[2]
During his tenure, Ratcliffe created the Nationally Coordinated Endowment Emphasis to increase the level of endowment giving to local councils.[3] He also created the James E. West Fellowship, the 1910 Society, and the Founders Circle to focus on endowments. These efforts effectively doubled local council endowments and allowed National to direct funds to major improvements in the high-adventure bases. Under Ratcliffe's administration, the Operation First Class program, now known as ScoutReach, was introduced to provide training and develop the resources necessary to serve at-risk youth in urban and rural areas.
Ratcliffe received a retirement benefit of $2.6 million when he retired in May of 2000.[4] He received an honorary doctor of humane letters degree from Wittenberg in 2004.[5] Ratcliffe currently lives in Southlake, Texas and serves on the coordinating committees of the World Organization of the Scout Movement and the World Foundation.
[edit] References
- ^ Boy Scouts' Top Official Arrested on Gun Charge. The New York Times. Retrieved on 29 Sep 2006.
- ^ Chief Scout Executive Receives Distinguished Service Award (PDF). National Bulletin. Order of the Arrow (1988). Retrieved on 29 Sep 2006.
- ^ The Jere Ratcliffe Years. Scouting Magazine. Boy Scouts of America. Retrieved on 29 Sep 2006.
- ^ Levine, Daniel S. (2003). Upward trend: Nonprofit work pays nicely for a handful of executives. San Francisco Business Times. Retrieved on 29 Sep 2006.
- ^ 'Hero' Teacher Escalante Addresses Students At Wittenberg Commencement May 9. Wittenberg University (2004).
