J. Bonner Ritchie: Mormon Scholar

Courtesy Deseret News}] J. Bonner Ritchie is a Scholar in Residence at Utah Valley University and a professor emeritus of International Behavior at the Brigham Young University Marriott School of Management. During 2001 through 2002, he served as Interim Dean of the UVU Business School. Ritchie was born in 1935 in Salt Lake City. He lived in Heber City, Utah, until the age of twelve when his family moved to San Francisco. He studied engineering at the University of California, Berkeley, prior to serving as a missionary to the Eastern States Mission for [http://Mormon.org The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

, of which he is a member. After his mission, he received his bachelor’s and PhD degrees in Labor Relations and Organizational Behavior from the University of California, Berkeley. He was a professor at the University of Michigan from 1967 to 1973. He then taught at BYU until he retired in 2000. The areas of his teaching, research, and consulting have included leadership development, organizational change, conflict resolution and peacemaking, ethics, and organizational philosophy. His latest leadership development and peacemaking efforts have been directed toward the Arab world.

He was distinguished with several awards, including the University of Michigan Distinguished Teaching Award, the BYU Alcuin Fellowship in General Education, the Marriott School Outstanding Faculty Award, the BYU Maeser Distinguished Teaching Award, and the BYU Honors Professor of the Year.

While at BYU, he was also a visiting professor at a number of universities, such as the University of California, Stanford University, St. Mary’s College, BYU Jerusalem Center for Near Eastern Studies, Birzeit University in Palestine, the University of Jordan, the University of Southern Europe, the Jordan Institute of Diplomacy, and the International University of Monaco.

Ritchie and his wife, Lois, have four children and live in Utah.