Hon. Tom Ridge

//Hon. Tom Ridge
Hon. Tom Ridge 2017-02-23T13:06:33-05:00

TOMbwHon. Tom Ridge, Advisory Board

Gov. Tom Ridge has been a member of the Blue Delta Advisory Board since 2009.

The Honorable Tom Ridge is the founder and Chairman of Ridge Global, an international firm providing clients with solutions to cyber security, international security and risk management issues.

Mr. Ridge was asked to serve as the first Secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, created from the largest reorganization of the federal government since World War II.  During his DHS tenure, Secretary Ridge worked with more than 180,000 employees from a combined 22 agencies to create an agency that facilitated the flow of people and goods, instituted layered security at air, land and seaports, developed a unified national response and recovery plan, protected critical infrastructure, integrated new technology and improved information sharing worldwide.

Prior to DHS, Mr. Ridge was twice elected Governor of Pennsylvania. Governor Ridge’s aggressive technology strategy helped fuel the state’s advances in economic development, education, health care and the environment. Before being elected Governor, Mr. Ridge served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives for six terms (one of the first Vietnam combat veterans elected to that institution).

Governor Ridge serves on the boards of the Institute for Defense Analyses, the Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress and many other private and public entities. He is currently chairman of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s National Security Task Force.

A graduate of Harvard with honors, Governor Ridge served in the U.S. Army as an infantry staff sergeant in Vietnam, earning the Bronze Star for Valor, the Combat Infantry Badge and the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry.  Upon his retirement from the Army, Governor Ridge earned his J.D. from the Dickinson School of Law (Penn State University).