Stephen W. Ritch, Ph.D.
Director
Wally and Louise Bishop Center for Ethical Leadership
Division of Academic Affairs

B.A. Political Science, University of South Florida
M.A. Public Administration/Community College Instruction, University of South Florida
Ph.D. Educational Administration and Supervision, University of Florida

Dr. Ritch assumed the directorship of the Wally and Louise Bishop Center for Ethical Leadership in the 2006.  Previously, he served USF St. Petersburg as the senior student affairs administrator for almost 20 years before joining the faculty of the College of Education in 2003 where he served as Coordinator and Lecturer for the Leadership Studies Minor and the then Bishop Program for Ethical Leadership. Prior to coming to the University of South Florida in 1984, he held several senior leadership positions in Florida community colleges. 

During his administrative career, Dr. Ritch taught courses in empirical political analysis, federal government, and state and local government.  Later, his research led to the development of undergraduate courses in leadership and ethics.  He teamed with USF Tampa faculty in 1999 to create USF’s Leadership Studies Minor, an interdisciplinary, undergraduate program with disciplinary roots in the social and behavioral sciences. While he teaches Fundamentals of Leadership, Survey of Leadership Readings, and Community Leadership Practicum, his signature course is Ethics and Power in Leadership.  He firmly believes in experiential education and employs interactive teaching methods wherever possible.

Dr. Ritch has presented papers and pedagogical demonstrations to the International Leadership Association, the Association for practical and professional Ethics, the Society for Ethics across the Curriculum, the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators, and the American College Personnel Association.  His research interests include empirical investigation of the relationship between power schema and moral development, the use of moral development theory to design and assess leadership ethics curricula, and the theory and skills necessary to teach ethics. Since 2004 he has been leading an initiative sponsored by the International Leadership Association to develop guidelines for leadership programs.

Ritch Resume and Vita (.pdf)