Faculty Profile: Jack Rives

JACK L. RIVES began serving as the Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer of the American Bar Association on Law Day (May 1), 2010.  Rives has overall management responsibility for staff operations at the Association’s headquarters in Chicago, at its Washington, DC office, and at program sites in more than 60 countries throughout the world. 

He oversees a staff of more than 900 and a consolidated budget of over $200 million, and he ensures the effective development and implementation of the Association’s strategic goals.  He has responsibility for the programs and policy activities adopted by the ABA’s governing and policy-making bodies, the Board of Governors and the House of Delegates.  Rives is responsible for membership and non-dues revenues issues, and for budgets that reflect the optimum priorities and appropriate cost-cutting initiatives.  He helps to build the ABA’s position as the world’s premier professional association for lawyers and as the voice of the legal profession.

Prior to joining the ABA, Rives served as The Judge Advocate General of the United States Air Force, where he was the first military attorney to attain three-star rank (lieutenant general).  He served as legal adviser to the secretary of the Air Force and all officers and agencies of the Department of the Air Force, and he oversaw an annual staff budget of $47 million.  The senior U.S. Air Force attorney, Rives led and managed some 4,600 personnel, including 2,600 active duty, reserve, and civilian attorneys.  Among his many military awards and decorations are the Distinguished Service Medal with oak leaf cluster and the Defense Superior Service Medal.

Rives received both his juris doctor degree and his Bachelor of Arts degree (political science) from the University of Georgia, Athens.  He is a member of the State Bar of Georgia and the American Law Institute, and he served on the Board of Trustees of the Air Force Aid Society. 

Originally from Rockmart, Georgia, Rives and his wife Marie have one son and two grandsons.