Gretchen Ritter to Conclude Tenure as Provost, Assume New Role as Vice President for Civic Engagement and Education

Gretchen Ritter

Following a three-year tenure as vice chancellor, provost and chief academic officer, Gretchen Ritter 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’s vice president for civic engagement and education, effective July 1. An interim provost will be appointed shortly following consultation with key stakeholder groups.

“Gretchen arrived at Syracuse University in the midst of a global pandemic and made an immediate impact on our academic and research enterprise,” says Chancellor Kent Syverud. “Among her most significant achievements, Syracuse University now has a new academic strategic plan and has already begun implementing its ambitious priorities. Gretchen’s contributions as the University’s chief academic officer will be felt for many years to come, and I look forward to her continued impact in this new role.”

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

• Collaborated across academic disciplines, schools and colleges to create “Leading with Distinction,” 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 Institute for Democracy, Journalism and Citizenship 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 “Syracuse Statement.”
• 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 College of Engineering and Computer Science.

“Serving as Syracuse University’s 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,” says Ritter. “I 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 Syracuse University 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.”

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 Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs and as a faculty affiliate with the Program for Advancement of Research on Conflict and Collaboration.

Ritter, a leading expert in the history of women’s constitutional rights and contemporary issues concerning democracy and citizenship in American politics, joined Syracuse University 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’s College of Arts and Sciences, the university’s 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’s 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’s degree in government from Cornell University and a Ph.D. in political science from MIT.