RONALD J. JAMES, Attorney at Law | Senior Advisor
Following the creation of the United States Department of Homeland Security in 2002, Ronald James accepted an appointment from President George W. Bush to serve as Homeland Security’s first Chief Human Capital Officer.
In that role, Ron James was the highest ranking civilian within the agency, responsible for the design and implementation of the new mission focused MAXHR personnel system. A total of 34 federal agencies and 220,000 federal employees are consolidated underneath the DHS umbrella with each falling under Ron James’ leadership.
On July 21, 2006, President George W. Bush nominated Ron to the post of Assistant Secretary of the Army (Manpower and Reserve Affairs, as confirmed by the United States Senate on September 29, 2006.
The Assistant Secretary of MPRA is the US Army’s chief principal in charge of policies governing all active duty personnel, reserve forces, veterans and civilian contractors.
Ronald J. James was educated at the University of Missouri (B.A. in Political Science); the Southern Illinois University’s Washington, D.C. extension (M.A. in Economics and Political Science); and the Washington College of Law at American University (J.D.).
James served in the United States Army as an officer in the 101st Airborne Division. He resigned in protest after Black officers were stripped of their command when the 101st was sent to quell White rioting in response to the integration of the University of Mississippi by James Meredith in 1962.James served in the United States Army as an officer in the 101st Airborne Division.[1] He resigned in protest after Black officers were stripped of their command when the 101st was sent to quell White rioting in response to the integration of the University of Mississippi by James Meredith in 1962.
Ron James began his career as an attorney in the United States Department of Transportation. He later became Assistant General Counsel of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEoC).
Later in his career, President of the United States Gerald Ford nominated James to serve as Administrator of the Wage and Hour Division at the United States Department of Labor, a position requiring Senate confirmation.
Ron managed the enforcement activities, procedures and standards of 300 offices nationwide. Ron James then left public service, joining the law firm of Squire, Sanders & Dempsey in Cleveland. There, he represented management in labor and employment disputes.