Meet the EVPP

Gretchen Ritter, Executive Vice President and Provost

Gretchen Ritter will serve as the University of Minnesota’s executive vice president and provost starting July 31, 2025, assuming the roles of chief academic officer for the University’s five campuses and provost for the Twin Cities campus.

As executive vice president, Ritter is responsible for faculty promotion and tenure approval, as well as the development, revision, and approval of academic programs and management of their operational intricacies to bolster faculty, student, and staff success. She also plays a collaborative leadership role in the University’s academic planning and budgeting process, use of educational technology, and capital planning.

As provost, Ritter leads the deans of the colleges, schools, and academic units of the Twin Cities campus and is responsible for advancing its academic mission. She will guide the implementation of components of the systemwide strategic plan and participate in a long-established collaborative and inclusive culture to promote the recruitment and retention of faculty, students, and staff.

Biographical Information

Ritter joins the University from Syracuse University, where she was the inaugural vice president for civic engagement and education. In this role, Ritter collaborated with academic programs and units to advance appreciation for civic engagement and community service while facilitating campus-wide programming to foster civil dialogue and free expression across viewpoints. During this time, she was a professor of political science in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs and a faculty affiliate with the Program for Advancement of Research on Conflict and Collaboration.

She served as the vice chancellor, provost, and chief academic officer at Syracuse University from 2021 to 2024, where she navigated a world health crisis, distance learning, and calls for social change. Of the many accomplishments during her leadership, Ritter implemented a new academic strategic plan, hired two of the largest faculty cohorts in the university’s history, and guided the expansion of their College of Engineering and Computer Science.

Prior to her time at Syracuse University, Ritter was the executive dean and vice provost of the College of Arts and Sciences at The Ohio State University, the dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Cornell University, and the vice provost of undergraduate education and faculty governance at the University of Texas at Austin, accompanied by numerous faculty appointments.

An expert in both women’s constitutional rights and democracy and citizenship in American politics, Ritter’s extensive research background is an asset to the University for navigating contemporary issues of higher education. She holds a bachelor's degree in government from Cornell University and a doctorate in political science from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.