Gary Ritter, a professor of education and public policy at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, as well as the founder of the university's Office for Education Policy, has been selected as dean of the School of Education at Saint Louis University, effective Aug. 1, 2018.
Ritter has been part of the UA faculty since 2000. He is the holder of the 21st Century Endowed Chair in Education Policy in the Department of Education Reform. In 2003 he became founder and director of the Office for Education Policy, which serves as a resource on kindergarten through 12th-grade education research and analysis for school districts, state education policymakers and the Arkansas Legislature.
After earning a bachelor's degree in finance at John Carroll University in Cleveland, Ritter received master's degrees from the University of Manchester in England and the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania. He earned his doctorate in education policy from Penn's Graduate School of Education.
His interests and work in Arkansas included teacher training and evaluation, educational programming for students in economically disadvantaged communities, access to higher education for students from low-income families, school governance and accountability, and disparities in school discipline, according to the Saint Louis University's announcement of Ritter's appointment.
Ritter said Tuesday that his experience with Jesuit higher education in Cleveland and the fact that his son attends Saint Louis University, a Jesuit campus in St. Louis, led him to respond to a call from a consulting company that was assisting the school in the search for a dean.
He said he would remain involved with the Arkansas Teacher Corps and the Office for Education Policy as a member of their boards of advisers.
NW News on 12/07/2017