Gretchen Ritter is an American political scientist and

academic administrator Academic administration is a branch of university or college employees responsible for the maintenance and supervision of the institution and separate from the faculty or academics, although some personnel may have joint responsibilities. Some t ...

who is the current vice chancellor, provost and chief academic officer of Syracuse University. She was previously the executive dean and vice provost of

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...

College of Arts and Sciences A College of Arts and Sciences or School of Arts and Sciences is most commonly an individual institution or a unit within a university that focuses on instruction of the liberal arts and pure sciences, although they frequently include programs and ...

from 2019 to 2021.

Early life and education

Ritter grew up in

Upstate New York Upstate New York is a geographic region consisting of the area of New York State that lies north and northwest of the New York City metropolitan area. Although the precise boundary is debated, Upstate New York excludes New York City and Long Is ...

. A "third-generation Cornellian", she graduated from

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to tea ...

with a BS in government in 1983. She later earned a

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

from the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...

Career

Ritter is a leading expert in the history of women's constitutional rights and contemporary issues concerning democracy and citizenship in American politics. Prior to becoming an academic administrator, Ritter taught at

MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the m ...

Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

, and the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,07 ...

. From 2009 to 2013, she was the vice provost for undergraduate education and faculty governance at the

. In 2013, she became the first woman to serve as the Harold Tanner Dean of the

, a position she held until 2018. In 2014, Ritter interviewed Justice

Ruth Bader Ginsburg Joan Ruth Bader Ginsburg ( ; ; March 15, 1933September 18, 2020) was an American lawyer and jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1993 until her death in 2020. She was nominated by Presiden ...

at the

New-York Historical Society The New-York Historical Society is an American history museum and library in New York City, along Central Park West between 76th and 77th Streets, on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The society was founded in 1804 as New York's first museum ...

. From 2019 to 2021, she served as the executive dean and vice provost of

. Ritter officially left her positions at

Ohio State The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best public ...

in August 2021 and became the vice chancellor, provost, and chief academic officer of Syracuse University in October 2021. 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''. 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.

Works

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ritter, Gretchen Living people Cornell University alumni Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumni University of Texas at Austin faculty Cornell University faculty American university and college faculty deans Women deans (academic) Ohio State University faculty Syracuse University faculty 1960 births