Ambassador John D. Rood

Ambassador John D. Rood was appointed by President George W. Bush in July 2004 to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Commonwealth of The Bahamas. He is the eleventh U.S. Ambassador to The Bahamas.

Ambassador Rood is the former Chairman of The Vestcor Companies, a Jacksonville, FL, real estate development and management firm that he founded in 1983 as a brokerage for multifamily properties. Under his direction, the firm expanded to include real estate investments, development, construction, and property management services. Vestcor specializes in multifamily rental and condominium communities, as well as refurbishing historical sites.

An avid fisherman and hunter, Ambassador Rood served as commissioner and chairman of Florida’s Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, a body charged with exercising regulatory oversight over the state’s freshwater, marine and wild animal life. During his tenure, the Commission worked for the careful scientific management and conservation of Florida’s aquatic resources, particularly the endangered manatee.

Ambassador Rood previously was a Director of the James Madison Institute, a Florida-based research and educational organization that advances practical free-market ideas on public policy issues. He was a founding board member of First Coast Family and Housing Foundation, a not-for-profit organization that owns and develops affordable housing. Ambassador Rood was a visiting professor at the University of North Florida. He holds a bachelors degree in business administration from the University of Montana.

Ambassador Rood is married to Mrs. Jamie Rood. The couple has three children.