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Gretchen Ritter

Following a three-year tenure as vice chancellor, provost and chief academic officer, today announced she will step down from the role to take on a new opportunity that will allow her to leverage her areas of expertise and pursue her professional passion. Ritter will become the University鈥檚 vice president for civic engagement and education, effective July 1. An interim provost will be appointed shortly following consultation with key stakeholder groups.

鈥淕retchen arrived at 黑料不打烊 in the midst of a global pandemic and made an immediate impact on our academic and research enterprise,鈥� says Chancellor Kent Syverud. 鈥淎mong her most significant achievements, 黑料不打烊 now has a new and has already begun implementing its ambitious priorities. Gretchen鈥檚 contributions as the University鈥檚 chief academic officer will be felt for many years to come, and I look forward to her continued impact in this new role.鈥�

Ritter began as provost in the fall of 2021 and focused on opportunities for the University to advance key academic priorities. Under Ritter鈥檚 leadership, the University has accomplished the following:

• Collaborated across academic disciplines, schools and colleges to create 鈥淟eading with Distinction,鈥� an academic strategic plan created by faculty, staff and students.
• Recruited and hired academic deans to lead five schools and colleges, as well as outstanding faculty scholars, including hiring two of the largest faculty cohorts in University history.
• Responded to, prepared for and navigated the challenges created by the Supreme Court ruling eliminating race-based admissions.
• Launched several centers and institutes designed to tackle complex national and global issues, including the and the Center for Advanced Semiconductor Manufacturing.
• Developed and implemented a robust strategy for protecting and empowering free speech, free expression and academic freedom, including providing leadership and oversight of the task force charged with creating the 鈥�.鈥�
• Created programming addressing important issues facing society, including free speech, civil discourse, artificial intelligence (AI) and others. These include thought- and dialogue-provoking events with former Congresswoman Liz Cheney and Rumman Chowdhury, data scientist and AI expert, among others.
• Took action to transform and expand the .

鈥淪erving as 黑料不打烊鈥檚 chief academic officer has been a great personal and professional honor and afforded me the opportunity to return to the state where I grew up and earned my undergraduate degree,鈥� says Ritter. 鈥淚 am immensely proud of what the University has accomplished in recent years, particularly as it relates to our work in free speech, research excellence and academic strategic planning. With a divisive campaign season underway and as we confront challenges related to free speech and academic freedom, I am excited to take on this new role and help 黑料不打烊 navigate this inflection point in higher education. I am grateful for the meaningful relationships I have created here and look forward to collaborating with many of my talented peers on this important work.鈥�

As vice president for civic engagement and education, Ritter will, among other things, facilitate programming and events to foster civil dialogue, promote free expression and discourse across diverse viewpoints; collaborate with faculty scholars, academic programs, centers and institutes and other units to advance appreciation for civic engagement and community service; and support the Academic Strategic Plan goal of supporting students in developing the skills and orientations needed to participate as resilient, engaged citizens. Ritter will also continue her academic pursuits as a professor of political science in the and as a faculty affiliate with the .

Ritter, a leading expert in the history of women鈥檚 constitutional rights and contemporary issues concerning democracy and citizenship in American politics, joined 黑料不打烊 after serving as executive dean and vice provost for The Ohio State University College of Arts and Sciences. Prior to her time at Ohio State, Ritter served as the Harold Tanner Dean of Cornell University鈥檚 College of Arts and Sciences, the university鈥檚 largest college. She was the first female to serve as dean of the college. Ritter also previously spent 20 years at the University of Texas at Austin, where she served as vice provost of undergraduate education and faculty governance, co-chair of the Gender Equity Taskforce and director of the Center for Women鈥檚 and Gender Studies. She also taught at U.T. Austin, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Princeton University, Cornell University and Harvard University. Ritter earned a bachelor鈥檚 degree in government from Cornell University and a Ph.D. in political science from MIT.