Historically black Virginia Union University has signaled an interest in diversity in its faculty in naming a new dean for its School of Arts and Sciences.

VUU President Hakim J. Lucas reached into the school’s teaching corps Monday and tapped Dr. Ted Ritter, who is Caucasian, to head the private, Baptist-affiliated school’s largest academic unit.

Dr. Ritter, who previously chaired several VUU departments, “is committed to the success of our students and VUU,” Dr. Lucas said. “His forward-thinking strategies will continue to help our school expand our academic programs and provide the rigor and career preparation that our students need and deserve.”

An advocate for upgrading campus offerings since his arrival eight years ago, Dr. Ritter will assume his new duties in July, according to a VUU release.

He will head a school that encompasses 10 departments: computer information systems and computer science, criminal justice and criminology, fine arts, history and political science, languages and literature, mass communications, mathematics, natural science, psychology and social work.

Dr. Ritter will take over from the interim dean, Dr. Gerard McShepard, a natural science professor who specializes in neuroscience. Dr. McShepard, who is African-American, has served as interim dean since Dr. Lucas dismissed the previous dean, Dr. Michael E. Orok, a political scientist who is currently interim dean of graduate studies at Alabama A&M University. Dr. Orok also is African-American.

A former faculty member at Furman University and the University of Richmond, Dr. Ritter has chaired the VUU departments of history and political science, languages and literature and fine arts since his arrival in 2011. He also has assisted in drafting proposals for majors in political science and history and for a master’s in political science.

He stated that his goals include updating the curricula for the School of Arts and Sciences’ various departments, pursuing more private and government grants, increasing student retention and improving the graduation rate that currently ranks among the lowest among private and public schools of higher education in Virginia.

He also plans to use his past experience as a prosecutor to increase growth of a pre-law program he started at VUU.

A graduate of the University of Oklahoma, Dr. Ritter earned a law degree from that school as well as his doctorate in political science.

Before going into college teaching, he served as a prosecutor in Oklahoma and later spent five years as the executive coordinator of the Oklahoma District Attorneys Council.

Dr. Ritter is married to Cindy Ritter, a licensed nursing home administrator. The couple have two children and live in Powhatan County.