The word “class” was invented for Dan Ritchie, the late entrepreneur, DU chancellor, philanthropist and civic pillar. Yes, “class” and also generosity, wisdom and humility. Toss in a good dose of humor, irony and fun. Sum it up: Dan Richie was wonderful to be around.
A wealthy man, he served DU for $1 a year. A healthy man, he relished his exercise routine — no doubt, one reason he lived to 93 — and relished telling himself in the presence of others, “No matter what, you’ve got to do your exercises.” No more appropriate building could be named for him than the Ritchie Center — the multifaceted gym — at DU.
Trim in body, modest in speech, Richie was the type of person whom one would never know was a very busy man — he had all the time in the world for interlocutors.
The Denver Center for Performing Arts was close to his heart. So was good government, and a unified DU campus, now taken for granted. Richie brought the law school back to campus and, with $75 million in personal gifts, put DU on its path to renaissance, including, as befits a connoisseur of the arts, a path of beauty. He raised more than $700 million (!) and beautified DU.
Universities, including DU, have new challenges, including anti-Semitism. We wish Dan Ritchie’s hand were still at the wheel. We are grateful that it was for so long and that it touched so many entities and individuals in Denver. To a person with class, the individual is just as important as the lofty goal. Dan Richie: a beautiful man, greatly missed.
© IJN 2025
