Jeff Runge

About Jeff Runge

Dr. Runge has 40 years of experience as an emergency medicine physician, Federal government, and healthcare executive, with experience across the fields of medical preparedness, medical services delivery, road safety and biodefense. Since 2008, he has provided strategic consulting and executive services for companies in the health, safety, and security sectors as well as corporate board service for both public companies and non-profits.Starting in 2001, he served seven years as the head of two government agencies in the Departments of Transportation and Homeland Security. His expertise in injury prevention and control resulted in President Bush’s appointment to head the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). While leading NHTSA, the agency instituted programs that led to dramatic declines in U.S. motor vehicle deaths and the lowest highway fatality rate in history. His focus on rollover crashes, crash incompatibility and crash avoidance technology led the agency to promote an industry-wide redesign of vehicles to improve rollover resistance and occupant safety. He fostered new regulations leading to universal side-impact head protection and a new regulatory framework for fuel economy standards. His innovative “Click It or Ticket” program led to significant increases in safety belt usage across the nation. Following his tenure at NHTSA, Dr. Runge became the first Chief Medical Officer at the Department of Homeland Security in 2005, where he created a new Office of Health Affairs. He was confirmed again by the Senate in 2007 as Assistant Secretary for Health Affairs at DHS. Dr. Runge and his team worked across traditional boundaries in government and the private sector to bring together stakeholders in medical preparedness to improve the security of the homeland and medical response to terrorism, pandemics, and natural disasters. From 1984 to 2001, Dr. Runge practiced and taught Emergency Medicine in North Carolina’s largest medical center while performing research in injury prevention, trauma care, and emergency service delivery. Dr. Runge is a 1977 graduate of the University of the South, Sewanee, TN, and received his medical degree from the Medical University of South Carolina in 1981. He has been honored by both institutions as a Distinguished Alumnus. Dr. Runge is board certified in Emergency Medicine and has published over 60 articles in the medical literature in the fields of emergency medicine, traffic injury control and medical preparedness.

Experience

1. Senior Advisor

   The Chertoff Group

   Mar 2015 — Present · Washington, DC, US

   Providing consulting and security services to corporations in the national security sector.

Education

• Medical University of South Carolina

  MD, Medicine

  1977 — 1981

• Carolinas Medical Center

  Residency in Emergency Medicine

  1981 — 1984

• The University of the South

  BA, Biology

  1973 — 1977

Skills

• Public Policy
• Emergency Management
• Policy
• Public Health
• Preparedness
• Disaster Response
• Government
• Road Safety
• Homeland Security
• Emergency Medicine
• Policy Analysis