Gretchen Ritter

Born in Arlington, VA and raised in Upstate New York,{{cite news|last1=Aloi|first1=Daniel|title=Gretchen Ritter '83 named dean of Arts and Sciences|url=http://news.cornell.edu/stories/2013/04/gretchen-ritter-83-named-dean-arts-and-sciences|accessdate=November 4, 2017|newspaper=Cornell Chronicle|date=April 11, 2013}} Ritter was the middle child and only girl in a family of five children. She received her bachelor's degree (with Distinction in All Subjects) from Cornell University, and her doctorate in political science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Ritter is a leading expert in the history of women's constitutional rights and contemporary issues concerning democracy and citizenship in American politics.{{Cite web|title=Meet the Provost|url=https://provost.syr.edu/about/meet-the-provost/|access-date=2021-10-02|website=SU Office of the Provost|language=en-US}} She has taught at MIT, Princeton University, Harvard University, and the University of Texas at Austin.{{cite news|title=Cornell arts and sciences dean: Colleges must foster good citizenship|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/grade-point/wp/2015/03/20/cornell-arts-and-sciences-dean-colleges-must-foster-good-citizenship/|accessdate=November 4, 2017|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=March 20, 2015}}{{cite news|last1=Guajardo|first1=Gaby|title=UT Vice Provost Accepts Position at Cornell|url=https://alcalde.texasexes.org/2013/04/ut-vice-provost-accepts-position-at-cornell/|accessdate=November 4, 2017|work=The Alcade|date=April 11, 2013}}

From 2009 to 2013, she was the vice provost for undergraduate education and faculty governance at the University of Texas at Austin, where she created the Course Transformation Program, promoting increased levels of student success in gateway courses through redesign efforts that incorporated active learning and educational technologies.

In 2013, she became the first woman to serve as the Harold Tanner Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Cornell University, a position she held until 2018.{{cite news|title=CU college names first female dean|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/125548967/?terms=%22Gretchen%2BRitter%22|accessdate=November 4, 2017|work=The Ithaca Journal|location=Ithaca, New York|date=April 13, 2013|page=A4|via=Newspapers.com|url-access=registration }} While in office, she spearheaded and piloted the creation of a new one-credit advising seminar for first year students. She also supported the creation of the Cornell Neurotech Program, a joint initiative between the College of Arts and Sciences and College of Engineering, the goal being to develop technologies and tools to reveal the interactions between brain cells and complex neural circuits at the speed of thought.{{Cite web |title=Cornell Neurotech |url=https://neurotech.cornell.edu/ |access-date=2025-04-07 |website=neurotech.cornell.edu |language=en-US}} And, she secured philanthropic support to launch the Milstein Program from Technology and Humanity jointly with the Cornell Tech Campus.{{Cite web |date=2025-02-10 |title=Milstein Program in Technology & Humanity |url=https://as.cornell.edu/department_program/milstein-program-technology-humanity#:~:text=The%20Milstein%20Program%20in%20Technology,York%20City%20on%20Roosevelt%20Island. |access-date=2025-04-08 |website=as.cornell.edu |language=en}}

From 2019 to 2021, she served as the executive dean and vice provost of Ohio State University's College of Arts and Sciences. Here, she helped to develop and secure support for implementation of the university's new general education requirements. Ritter led the development of the Race, Inclusion and Social Equity (RAISE) initiative at Ohio State University to promote research to address racial and social disparities.{{Cite web |date=2021-03-02 |title=Ohio State University |url=https://criticalrace.org/schools/ohio-state-university/#:~:text=OSU's%20%22Race,%20Inclusion%20and%20Social,address%20racial%20and%20social%20disparities. |access-date=2025-04-07 |website=Critical Race Training in Education |language=en-US}}

Ritter left her position at Ohio State in August 2021 and became the vice chancellor, provost, and chief academic officer of Syracuse University in October 2021.{{Cite web|last=Kidwell|first=Mary|date=2021-06-14|title=Dean of College of Arts and Sciences Gretchen Ritter to leave Ohio State|url=https://www.thelantern.com/2021/06/dean-of-college-of-arts-and-sciences-gretchen-ritter-to-leave-ohio-state/|access-date=2021-06-30|website=The Lantern|language=en-US}} There she oversaw the effort to create a new academic strategic plan, "Leading with Distinction", that identifies five areas of distinctive excellence for future growth: emerging technologies, human thriving, global diversity, experiential inquiry, and engaged citizenship.{{Cite web |last=news |date=2024-02-01 |title=Steering committee to guide academic strategic plan implementation |url=https://dailyorange.com/2024/01/steering-committee-to-guide-asp-implementation/ |access-date=2025-04-07 |website=The Daily Orange |language=en-US}} She also co-chaired the working group that developed the Syracuse Statement on Free Expression and Free Inquiry, outlining the University’s commitment to ensuring free speech and academic freedom among faculty and students,{{Cite web |last=news |date=2024-05-29 |title=SU releases 'Syracuse Statement' on academic freedom, free speech |url=https://dailyorange.com/2024/05/syracuse-statement-academic-freedom-free-speech-released/ |access-date=2025-04-07 |website=The Daily Orange |language=en-US}} one of many instances Ritter has emphasized the importance of such throughout her professional career. Currently, Ritter serves as the Vice President for Civic Engagement and Education at Syracuse University. In this role, she worked with colleagues to launch the "Life Together: Seeking the Common Good in a Diverse Democracy," initiative, which promotes civil discourse and the civic engagement on the Syracuse University campus.{{Cite web |last=Rodoski |first=Kelly Homan |date=2025-01-13 |title=Life Together Initiative to Expand in the Spring 2025 Semester |url=https://news.syr.edu/blog/2025/01/13/life-together-initiative-to-expand-in-the-spring-2025-semester/ |access-date=2025-04-08 |website=SU News |language=en-US}}

Ritter is the author of two books, The Constitution as Social Design: Gender and Civic Membership in the American Constitutional Order and Goldbugs and Greenbacks: The Antimonology Tradition and the Politics of Finance in America, 1865–1896.{{cite web |title=The Department of Government - Gretchen Ritter |url=https://government.cornell.edu/gretchen-ritter |website=Cornell University College of Arts and Sciences |publisher=Cornell University}} She is a co-editor of Democratization in America: A Comparative and Historical Perspective.

Ritter is the recipient of several fellowships and awards, including the National Endowment for Humanities Fellowship, the Radcliffe Research Partnership Award, and a Liberal Arts Fellowship at Harvard Law School. She is also a member of the American Political Science Association and the Council on Foreign Relations.

A skilled interviewer, Ritter [https://www.cornell.edu/video/ruth-bader-ginsburg-brooklyn-to-the-bench interviewed] Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg at the New-York Historical Society.{{cite web |last=Craig |first=Jon |date=September 22, 2014 |title=Ruth Bader Ginsburg reminisces about her time on the Hill |url=https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2014/09/ruth-bader-ginsburg-reminisces-about-her-time-hill |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200218215422/https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2014/09/ruth-bader-ginsburg-reminisces-about-her-time-hill |archive-date=February 18, 2020 |access-date=August 25, 2020 |newspaper=Cornell Chronicle}}{{cite web |title=Ruth Bader Ginsburg: From Brooklyn to the Bench |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htJXKesFpE8 |website=YouTube| date=24 February 2015 }} Other notable interview subjects over the years have included the political philosopher Michael Rogin, Vice President JD Vance, artists Michael Mercil and Ann Hamilton, Congresswoman Liz Cheney, opinion writers John McWhorter and Michael Eric Dyson, and creative writer George Saunders.

• {{cite book|last1=Ritter|first1=Gretchen|title=Goldbugs and Greenbacks: The Antimonopoly Tradition and the Politics of Finance in America, 1865–1896|date=1997|publisher=Cambridge University Press|location=Cambridge, U.K.|isbn=9780521653923|oclc=181692643}}
• {{cite book|last1=Ritter|first1=Gretchen|title=The Constitution as Social Design: Gender and Civic Membership in the American Constitutional Order|date=2006|publisher=Stanford University Press|location=Stanford, California|isbn=9780804754385|oclc=654816215|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/constitutionasso0000ritt}}

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Category:Living people

Category:Cornell University alumni

Category:Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumni

Category:University of Texas at Austin faculty

Category:Cornell University faculty

Category:American university and college faculty deans

Category:Women deans (academic)

Category:Ohio State University faculty

Category:Syracuse University faculty

Category:1960 births

Category:University of Minnesota faculty