Rufus Gifford

John Rufus Gifford (born August 5, 1974) is an American diplomat. He is serving as the 60th United States Ambassador to Denmark, and was the Finance Director for Barack Obama's presidential re-election campaign in 2012. On August 1, 2013, Gifford's nomination from President Obama to be the next United States Ambassador to the Kingdom of Denmark was confirmed by the United States Senate. He was sworn into the role on August 15, 2013, and presented his credentials to the Queen of Denmark on September 13, 2013.

Gifford is a native of Massachusetts. He graduated from St. Paul's School in Concord, New Hampshire in 1992 and he received his B.A. from Brown University in Rhode Island.

Gifford spent a few years in Hollywood working on family movies such as Dr. Dolittle 2 and Garfield, before moving on to politics. Prior to his work as an ambassador, Gifford served in various financial management capacities for Democratic candidates, including Barack Obama and John Kerry in their respective presidential campaigns. From 1998 to 2004, Gifford was a creative executive in Los Angeles for Davis Entertainment.

Gifford is openly gay, and commentators from GQ, Huffington Post and L.A. Weekly referred to him as Barack Obama's informal "ambassador to the gay community." He is a Federal Club Member of the Human Rights Campaign and a Partner in Conservation for the World Wildlife Fund.

Gifford has been an integral part of bringing the American art form of Long Form Improvisation to Denmark. In September 2016 he was in the opening show at the first improv theatre in Denmark, Improv Comedy Copenhagen and said,“No matter what you are doing, you always have to allow time to laugh, smile and have fun. And creating that balance is incredibly important.”

On January 16, 2017, Gifford was awarded the Grand Cross of the Order of the Dannebrog by Her Majesty Queen Margrethe II of Denmark for his meritorious service to the Kingdom of Denmark.

Gifford married his husband, Dr. Stephen DeVincent, on October 10, 2015 in a ceremony at Copenhagen City Hall in Copenhagen, Denmark. Gifford participated in a DR-produced documentary about his life as an ambassador in 2014 and again in 2015, winning the Big Character award at the 2015 TV-Prisen award-show.