Loret Miller Ruppe (January 3, 1936 – August 7, 1996) was a Director of the Peace Corps and US Ambassador to Norway.

[2] Loret Miller married Philip Ruppe in 1957[2] and settled in Houghton, Michigan, where she began her long career as a volunteer organizer and civic leader.

[3] Ruppe also traveled extensively through Africa, spending time in Kenya, Morocco, Egypt, and the Spanish Sahara where she saw the potential for partnerships with third world countries to meet human needs.

[3] Ruppe attended the Conference on Africa in Ditchley Park, England, in 1978 which furthered her interest in solving problems in the third world.

[2] After the resignation of Peace Corps Director Carolyn R. Payton in 1978, President Jimmy Carter issued an executive order restoring some of its autonomy, but supporters of the agency continued to feel that under Action the Peace Corps suffered from a lack of visibility and identity.

[2] However, on March 18, 1981, Ruppe sent a letter to Senator Alan Cranston (D-CA), which challenged Pauken's nomination.

[2] At the opening of the conference, the audience of returned volunteers applauded Ruppe when she told them that she was committed to a strict policy of keeping the Peace Corps out of United States intelligence work in foreign countries.

[9] Ruppe came under heavy pressure from within the Reagan Administration to politicize her top staff in Washington and to choose only Republican loyalists as Country Directors overseas.

[10] In 1981, Ruppe appointed ten country directors who had been selected by the Carter Administration over White House objections.

[7] At the Peace Corps, Curran attempted to carry out Reagan Administration policy but Ruppe responded by stripping him of most of his staff and official duties, including authority as acting director in her absence.

[9] On September 24, 1984, the New York Times reported that the Peace Corps planned to double the number of volunteers serving in Honduras, Guatemala, Costa Rica and Belize to 1,200 workers over the next three years.

[11] Senator Paul Tsongas who served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Ethiopia in the 1960s said "It's important to demonstrate to the countries that we can do more than just send arms.

[11] On January 15, 1985, Ruppe issued a nationwide appeal for 600 volunteers to begin famine relief and agricultural work in Mali, Zaire, Lesotho and Niger.

[12] Ruppe announced that teams of 5 to 10 volunteers would work with small-scale farmers on land preparation, water supply, storage and preservation of crops, processing and marketing assisted by the United States Agency for International Development.

[12] This effort was known as the African Food Systems Initiative (AFSI)and the Peace Corps domestic recruitment strategy was refocused on American farmers, who responded positively to some extent.

[citation needed] While Ruppe was director, the Peace Corps began or resumed programs in seven countries: Sri Lanka, Haiti, Burundi, Guinea-Bissau, Chad, Equatorial Guinea and the Cape Verde Islands.

[13] Ruppe also started the African Food Initiative, Women In Development, and the Leadership for Peace Campaign.

[citation needed] She created business-oriented volunteer positions within the Peace Corps to promote grass roots economic growth worldwide, an agenda that was supported by Republicans in the U.S. Congress who generally disapproved of U.S. foreign aid programs.

[15] On September 5, 1996, Senator Chris Dodd who served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Dominican Republic, honored Ruppe with a speech on the floor of the Senate: "When President Reagan appointed her in 1981, the Peace Corps budget was rapidly declining and was less than that of the military marching bands.

In terms of national visibility, she brought much needed congressional and executive level attention to the Peace Corps.

[18] The Mary Anne Foundation dedicated the Loret Miller Ruppe Ambassador for Peace Award "to tap into the original and creative thinking of the young, regarding the issues of conflict resolution, forgiveness and reconciliation.