Members Emeritus
Harnessing the power of industry’s knowledge and experience
In keeping with the IJIS Institute’s mission to apply the expertise of industry to improving mission critical information sharing, the Institute has established Emeritus Membership. It is the hope of the Institute that by recognizing and engaging individuals who have retired following an extensive career in the justice and public safety community, we can further leverage their vast institutional knowledge and experience.
Members Emeritus have all of the benefits and rights as full IJIS Institute members without paying any dues. The Board of Directors awards this status to individuals in recognition of their career contributions to the field and to the work of the IJIS Institute.
The IJIS Institute Board of Directors has awarded Member Emeritus standing to the following individuals:
Robert Shumate (2006)
Robert P. Shumate has more than 40 years of experience in the field of computer-related business activities. He has been an entrepreneur throughout his career and was a pioneer in the development of public safety information systems, having developed and installed one of the first such systems in St Louis, Missouri, in 1964, and having founded and led Systems Science Corporation. Over the years, among other things, he has served as vice president of PRC International, director of research and development for the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP), and was a faculty member at both the Indiana University (IU) Department of Police Administration and the IU Computer Center.
Mr. Shumate was one of the original incorporators of the IJIS Institute and served as its first president and as a member of the Institute’s Board of Directors. After completing two terms as president of the Institute, he served as chairperson of the Department of Justice-initiated Industry Working Group and presided over its integration into the IJIS Institute. Mr. Shumate is currently a director and chief financial officer of URL Integration Inc.
Lee Ruck (2008)
Lee Ruck has been intimately involved in the legal aspects of local government and intergovernmental relations for most of his 40-year career. At various times he has been an elected or appointed official at town, city, county, state, and federal levels of government. He has served as assistant corporation counsel for the District of Columbia, county attorney for Fairfax County and general counsel for the National Association of Counties (NACO). More recently he was selected as general counsel of the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (COG), where, with assistance from attorneys from all the COG jurisdictions and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), he developed and brokered a federal mutual aid authorization statute for the National Capitol Region, which effectively encourages and permits first responder aid across state boundaries.
In 2000, Mr. Ruck worked with the leadership of the DOJ-initiated Industry Working Group (IWG) to design, create, and develop a non-profit entity to assist in addressing the problems of vertical and horizontal sharing of information between and among the myriad of state and local justice agencies—law enforcement, courts, and related efforts. Mr. Ruck incorporated their ideas into an industry-supported foundation which could accept federal grants and furnish state-of-the-art analysis to justice agencies around the country. This effort—now the IJIS Institute—is a model for government and industry working collaboratively to serve the public.