Daniel L. Ritchie, chairman of the Board of Trustees at the University of Denver, will step down on Jan. 1.
Ritchie told the board he was leaving on Saturday during a meeting.
“As a general principle, I believe it’s best to move on once the transition period is successfully completed,” Ritchie said in a prepared statement. “We have reached that point, so now is the right time. The University is in excellent hands with Chancellor Coombe and Provost Gregg Kvistad.”
Joy S. Burns, vice chair of the board, will return as chair when Ritchie steps down.
She served as chair from 1990 to 2005.
During Saturday’s meeting, the board confirmed Burns and also elected Ritchie an honorary life trustee.
“I will stay close to DU and continue to be a strong supporter-you can count on it,” Ritchie wrote in his statement.
Ritchie’s involvement with DU goes back to 1983, when he became a trustee. In 1989 he became the 16th chancellor of the private university.
Ritchie will become chairman and chief executive of the Denver Center for the Performing Arts in January. He is president of the Temple Hoyne Buell Foundation, and a member of the boards of the Daniels Fund and the Central City Opera Association. Ritchie chairs the education committee of the National Park System Advisory Board.
