Rudenko Serhii Vasyliovych was born on March 19, 1957, in Odesa. After finishing secondary school, he enrolled at the Odesa Institute of Marine Engineers (OIME). In 1979, he graduated with honors, majoring in "Hydraulic Engineering of Water Transport Routes and Structures."

Upon graduation, he was assigned to work at the Institute of Transport Construction in Moscow. In 1981, he was transferred to the position of Junior Research Fellow at the Research Sector of OIME.

From 1986 to 1989, he was a postgraduate student at the Department of Hydraulics and Water Studies of ONMU. In 1988, he defended his PhD thesis ahead of schedule in the specialty 05.22.18 "Operation of Sea and River Ports" and subsequently worked as an assistant at the Department of Hydraulics and Water Studies.

Since 2000, he has served as Director of the Scientific and Technical Center "EKON." Under his leadership, a number of significant environmental projects were implemented, including the liquidation of oil waste storage ponds at the Odesa–Sorting railway station and the construction of wastewater treatment facilities at locomotive depots in Znamianka and Shevchenko stations of the Odesa Railway, among others.

In October 2004, S.V. Rudenko returned to the Odesa National Maritime University (ONMU) as Vice-Rector for Academic Affairs and University Development. From 2007 to 2015, he held the position of Vice-Rector for Research.

Since 2005, he has also worked part-time as a professor, teaching at the Departments of Engineering Structures and Water Studies, and Systems Analysis and Logistics.

In 2012, he defended his doctoral dissertation in the specialty 05.13.22 "Project Management." In 2013, S.V. Rudenko was awarded the academic title of Professor.

His list of publications includes 145 scientific articles, including four monographs. He is also the holder of a registered patent.

S.V. Rudenko is an academician of the Transport Academy of Ukraine, Head of the Southern Scientific Center of the Transport Academy of Ukraine, Honored Worker of Maritime Transport of Ukraine, and Merited Member of the Transport Academy of Ukraine. He has been awarded the honorary distinction of the Mayor of Odesa.

Since 2015, he has served as the Rector of the Odesa National Maritime University.