Sentry Financial | Management Team

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Management Team » Jonathan M. Ruga

Jonathan M. Ruga (age 51): Mr. Ruga, M.B.A., C.P.A., J.D., is the Chief Executive Officer of Sentry, in which capacity he is primarily responsible for establishing Sentry’s strategic direction. He also leads Sentry’s Private Equity and Real Estate Divisions. Prior to co-founding Sentry in 1986, Mr. Ruga was the Executive Vice President and General Counsel of a regional equipment finance company based in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Upon graduating from the SJ Quinney College of Law in 1982, Mr. Ruga worked with the law firm of Parr, Waddoups, Brown, Gee & Loveless (http://www.pwlaw.com/), where he specialized in the areas of financing and leasing, federal taxation, and business law. Prior to his legal career, Mr. Ruga worked for two years with a local public accounting firm, specializing in the management consulting and federal income tax areas.

During the course of his association with Amembal, Deane & Associates: Lease Education and Consulting (f/k/a Amembal & Isom), Mr. Ruga co-authored The Handbook of Leasing: Techniques and Analysis (1982), authored the tax and legal chapters of the Guide to Captive Finance Company Equipment Leasing (1984), and co-authored The Handbook of Equipment Leasing (1988). More recently, Mr. Ruga co-authored Operating Leases: The Complete Guide (2000), and International Leasing: The Complete Guide (2000).

Mr. Ruga graduated magna cum laude from the University of Utah College of Business with undergraduate degrees in accounting and finance, and with a Master of Business Administration degree, and obtained a law degree from the SJ Quinney College of Law at the University of Utah, where he was a member of the Utah Law Review and was elected to the Utah Chapter of the Order of the Coif.

In addition to his board involvement with several companies, Mr. Ruga is a member of the Board of Trustees of three charitable/non-profit organizations: Rowland Hall St. Mark’s (a private school located in Salt Lake City with grades from pre-school through 12th, http://www.rhsm.org/); the Boys’ and Girls’ Clubs of Greater Salt Lake (http://www.bgcgsl.org/); and the University of Utah S.J. Quinney College of Law (http://www.law.utah.edu/). For seven years ending in 2003, Mr. Ruga was on the Board of Trustees (and for one year was President) of The Road Home, which provides housing and related services to the homeless population along the Wasatch Front (http://www.theroadhome.org/).

Mr. Ruga received the Alumnus of the Year Award for 2007 from the University of Utah S.J. Quinney College of Law for his personal commitment to the law school and its students.

Mr. Ruga and his wife, Tina, have three children and reside in Salt Lake City. Mr. Ruga enjoys playing the guitar, playing racquetball, and mountain biking.

Various speeches, interviews, and articles given by or about Mr. Ruga can be accessed here.