Araya Rutnarak, LTC

Lieutenant Colonel Art Rutnarak serves as Professor of Military Science at the University of Illinois-Chicago. Art is an active duty officer in the United States Army with over 17 years of service in diverse and challenging environments. As the Professor of Military Science, he oversees ten Reserve Officer Training Corps programs across Chicago and Northwest Indiana, including those at University of Illinois Chicago, University of Chicago, Chicago State University, Saint Xavier University, Roosevelt University, Robert Morris University, Columbia University, Illinois Institute of Technology, Indiana University Northwest, and Purdue University Northwest. Each program is wholly committed to training leaders of character and molding college students into Army officers capable of leading American Soldiers.

Art is a native of Long Grove, IL who earned degrees at New Mexico Military Institute and Roosevelt University before completing his Master of Arts in Organizational Psychology at Columbia University (New York). He served four years as a Tactical Officer at the United States Military Academy at West Point, NY during which time he instructed MX400 “Officer-ship”, the capstone course for college seniors at the Academy.

Art’s significant military assignments include serving alongside the State Department as an Executive Officer at the United States Embassy-Kuwait, as Operations Officer for the 157th Infantry Brigade, where he oversaw the training of Army National Guardsmen from across the United States, and as a Military Transition Team Officer responsible for instructing Iraqi Army officers in military operations.