Chancellor Richard D. Ringeisen

Positions:

  • Chancellor
    University of Illinois at Springfield
    April 1, 2001 – present
  • Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs and Chief Academic Officer
    East Carolina University
    Greenville, North Carolina
  • Dean, College of Sciences and Professor of Mathematics
    Old Dominion University
    Norfolk, Virginia
  • Mathematics Professor and Department Head
    Clemson University
    Clemson, South Carolina

Education:

  • B.S., Manchester College
    Manchester, Indiana
  • M.S., Mathematics
    Michigan State University
  • Ph.D., Mathematics, with a specialty in graph theory
    Michigan State University

Selected local service:

Current

  • Greater Springfield Chamber of Commerce Community Leadership Forum
  • Greater Springfield Chamber of Commerce Q5 Strategic Leadership Council
  • Governor’s Prayer Breakfast Committee; chair, 2005
  • The Hope Institute Board of Directors
  • The Springfield Project Board of Directors

Previous

  • Memorial Health System Board of Directors
  • Springfield Urban League Board of Directors
  • United Way of Central Illinois Board of Directors

Personal:

  • Dr. Ringeisen and his wife Carolyn have two married children and five grandchildren.
  • He was born March 18, 1944.

Selected List of Accomplishments 2001 – 2010

Richard Ringeisen, Chancellor of the University of Illinois Springfield

Vision and strategic plan

  • Established a bold vision to become one of the top five small public liberal arts universities in the nation
  • Achieved a high ranking in U.S. News & World Report in 2009 and 2010
  • Invited to join the prestigious national Council of Public Liberal Arts Colleges (COPLAC)
  • Established and pursued three major goals: academic excellence, enriching lives, making a difference in the world

Buildings – substantial physical growth

  • Lincoln Residence Hall (first residence hall)
  • The Recreation and Athletic Center
  • New townhouse complexes, adding 380 beds; total residential students tops 1,100
  • University Hall
  • The Quad and the Colonnade
  • Founders Hall (second residence hall)
  • The Alfred O. and Barbara Cordwell Thirkildsen Field Station at Emiquon
  • New Peoria Center in downtown location

Academics

  • Successful transition from upper-division university to full-fledged four-year university
  • Established Capital Scholars Honors program, admitted freshmen for the first time in 2001, then expanded the freshman class in 2006
  • Completion of totally wireless campus
  • Increased number of faculty from 160 to 211
  • Significant expansion of fine arts – for example, music and theater
  • Filled six professorships: added the Wepner Professorship in Political Science and the Stukel professorship in Education to the previously obtained Naomi B. Chair in Lincoln Studies, Ameren business professorship and the National City banking professorship. Obtained funding for two Schewe professorships in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
  • National accreditation of College of Business and Management
  • Became recognized national leader in online education, including several national awards and a widely circulated story on National Public Radio
  • Broadened international opportunities and exchanges to several countries

Student Life

  • Expanded athletics program with men’s basketball, women’s softball, men’s and women’s golf, women’s soccer, and men’s baseball
  • Joined NCAA Division II and the prestigious Great Lakes Valley Conference
  • Moved from a small number of student clubs and organizations to more than 70
  • Added a Diversity Center and a Center for First-Year Students
  • Expanded volunteer efforts for students in the community

Fundraising

  • Received nearly $23 million dollars in pledges and gifts in our “Brilliant Futures” campaign, which is more than 80% of our $28 million dollar goal. Includes many new scholarships

For more information, contact Derek Schnapp, 217-206-7923, dschn3@uis.edu