Daniel L. Ritchie Papers

Daniel L. Ritchie served as the 16th Chancellor of the University of Denver, from July 1989 to June 2005. He was born on September 19, 1931 in Springfield, Illinois. His father was a farm implement dealer in North Carolina. He graduated with a B.A. degree from Harvard in 1954 and a MBA in 1956.

After earning his degrees, he was a securities analyst for Lehman Brothers on Wall Street, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Columbia Savings and Loan Association in Denver, Colorado and served as the President and Founder of Archon Pure Products Company. In 1974, He joined Westinghouse as the Executive Vice President of the Learning and Leisure Time Industries division and later became the Chairman and CEO of Westinghouse Broadcasting for eight years before moving back to Colorado in 1987.

Ritchie's relationship with the University of Denver began in 1983 when he was elected to serve on the Board of Trustees. Through his work as the Chairman and head of the Development Committee, the University raised more than $14 million dollars. Ritchie became the 16th Chancellor of the University in June 1989. In June 1994, Ritchie gave a gift of$15 million dollars to the University, by selling 19,600 acres of his ranch. Since then he has given the University the remainder of the ranch which has netted more than $50 million dollars.