National Football Foundation

Ruta has worked a total of 401 collegiate games during his legendary career, and he has had honor of being called to officiate in 12 bowl games, including the 1999 Cotton Bowl, 1987 Orange Bowl, 1984 Sun Bowl, and the 2005 Champs Sports Bowl. He worked the landmark 1986 game that pitted No.1 Oklahoma against No.2 Miami (Fla.) with the Hurricanes besting the Sooners 28-16. He was a replay communicator for the first ever Conference USA Championship game in 2005, and his many other career highlights include working the 2000 BCA Kickoff Classic and the classic rivalry between Army and Navy in 1996.

Ruta is currently a replay official for the Sun Belt Conference, a role he has fulfilled since 2005 and follows stints in Conference USA from 1996 to 2005 and the Atlantic Coast Conference from 1994 to 1995. Ruta began his career in 1967 as an official with the Florida High School Activity Association, where he remained until 1982. During his tenure with the FHSAA, he simultaneously worked games for the Southern Professional Football League from 1967 to 1969 and the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference from 1971 to 1978. He also claims more than a decade of experience officiating basketball, track and field and softball.

Ruta has served on the Southern Independent Collegiate Officials Association Board of Directors. He has held the titles of president and treasurer with the National Football Officials Alliance; president, secretary and commissioner with the Mid Coast Officials Association; and as president and treasurer of the Conference USA Football Officials Association.

He founded the All-Star Gridiron Classic, a collegiate all-star game in Orlando that raised monies for the Buoniconti Fund (the Miami Project to Cure Paralysis) and for Rotary Clubs from 1999-2005. After leaving the field in 2004, Ruta has continued to host game officials and their families for the Champs Sports Bowl and the Capital One Bowl.

Beyond his officiating duties, Ruta owns Horizon Resorts, Inc., in Titusville, Fla. A member of Rotary International since 1978, he served as the president (2001-2002) of the Titusville Rotary Club and is a three-time Paul Harris Fellow, an honor bestowed on the club's leaders. Ruta served on the board of directors of the Parish Medical Center, a public not-for-profit hospital, in Titusville for 13 years, including eight years as the chairman. Ruta holds two bachelor's degrees from Florida State, and he and his wife Charlotte currently live in Titusville. They have four children and eight grandchildren.