Professor of Geology (Retired)
Geomorphology, Environmental Geology
jritter@wittenberg.edu
Dr. Ritter taught courses in environmental science, environmental geology, geomorphology and hydrology, and geographic information systems (GIS) from 1990 to 2025. He helped establish the environmental studies and environmental science programs and was a director of both for many years. Ritter valued the role the Springfield and Clark County communities could play in educating our faculty and students and was a benefactor himself of that, using community-based problems in his classes over the course of his career. He believed that students, through their coursework, could be a part of the solution to local environmental problems, no matter the scale of their impact. Most recently, his work with students focused on maximizing ecosystem services our public green and blue spaces provide. Ritter was a longtime member of the Board of Supervisors of Clark Soil and Water Conservation District and more recently the Board of Directors of the Springfield Conservancy District (SCD), and he continues his work with each as well as local environmental organizations, including Clark County Park District, Tecumseh Land Trust, and B-W Greenway. He is currently the secretary-treasurer of the SCD. During his time at Wittenberg, he was the recipient of several awards, including the Omicron Delta Kappa Excellence in Teaching Award, CASE Ohio Professor of the Year, Excellence in Community Service Award, and the Alumni Association Award for Distinguished Teaching. He was also a Fulbright Scholar to University of West Indies in Trinidad and Tobago where he worked on developing a geohazards GIS for northern Trinidad.