Biography

DR. ERVIN J. ROKKE

President, Moravian College and Moravian Theological Seminary

Dr. Ervin J. Rokke is President of Moravian College and Moravian Theological Seminary, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

Dr. Rokke was born on December 12, 1939, in Warren, Minnesota.  After attending St. Olaf College for one year, he entered the U.S. Air Force Academy and graduated in 1962 with a Bachelor of Science degree.  He received a master's degree in international relations in 1964 and a doctorate in international relations in 1970, both from Harvard University.

After graduation from the academy, he was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Air Force.  In 1964 he entered the Armed Forces Air Intelligence Training Center, Lowry Air Force Base, Colorado and graduated with honors a year later.  He was then assigned as a photo interpreter and later as operations officer with the 67 Reconnaissance Technical Squadron, Yokota Air Base, Japan.

In 1967, Rokke transferred to Headquarters Pacific Air Force, Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii, as an intelligence staff officer.  In 1968 he joined the faculty of the Air Force Academy as a member of the political science department.  There he served on temporary duty tours as a consultant to the Bureau of Intelligence and Research, Department of State, Washington, DC, and to Headquarters U.S. European Command in Stuttgart, Germany.  After completing his doctorate in 1970, he returned to the academy as an associate professor and later as chairman of instruction in the political science department.

In 1973, he was assigned as a plans officer with the U.S. Mission to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), Brussels, Belgium.  In this capacity, he prepared statements of the United States position on NATO issues for presentation to allies, and maintained liaison with appropriate officers from staffs of allied delegations.

Rokke returned to the academy in 1976, where he served as permanent professor of political science, then as assistant dean until 1977, when he became head of the department.  From 1980 to 1982, he served in London as the U.S. air attaché to the United Kingdom.  He then resumed his position as professor and department head at the academy.  After serving as vice dean of faculty, he became dean of faculty in 1983. 

Rokke was assigned as the U.S. defense attaché to the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics from 1987 to 1989.  He became associate director of operations for military support at the National Security Agency, Fort George G. Meade, MD, in 1989. 

Rokke returned to Europe in 1991 as Director of Intelligence, Headquarters European Command, Stuttgart, Germany, and in 1993 was assigned to the Pentagon as Assistant Chief of Staff for Intelligence.  Prior to assuming his duties as President of Moravian College and Theological Seminary, he served as the President of the National Defense University in Washington, DC from 1994 to 1997.

His military decorations include the Defense Distinguished Service Medal with oak leaf cluster, Distinguished Service Medal, Defense Superior Service Medal with oak leaf cluster, Legion of Merit, Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Meritorious Service Medal with oak leaf cluster, and Air Force Commendation Medal with oak leaf cluster.

Rokke is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the Chairman’s Advisory Council of the U.S. Institute of Peace, and currently serves on the Director of  National Intelligence’s Intelligence Science Board.   He is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Falcon Foundation and of the National Defense University Foundation, the National Museum of Industrial History, St. Luke’s Hospital, and the Lehigh Valley Industrial Park.  Rokke is co-editor of American Defense Policy (third edition).

He is married to the former Pamela Patterson of Edina, Minnesota.  They have two children, Lisa and Eric.

ERV AND PAM ROKKE AT 67RTS REUNION

Air Force Bio