Vision and commitment to UIS
Richard Ringeisen arrived in Springfield in 2001 with a big vision as the new chancellor at University of Illinois Springfield. With a doctorate in mathematics, he came from East Carolina University after also working at Colgate, Clemson and Old Dominion universities.
Ringeisen wanted UIS to become “the best small public liberal arts university in the nation.” He had advocates and he said it so often that at gatherings of faculty and staff, he would coax them to repeat that phrase together, out loud, to reinforce the message.
He pushed and prodded, and what he left in 2010 will benefit students, faculty and this community for generations.
The year he arrived was also the first year the university admitted freshmen, their number limited to about 100 in the original Capital Scholars Honors Program. He desired even more freshmen, but other Illinois regional universities objected, not wanting to compete with UIS for freshmen.
Ringeisen patiently strategized with faculty leaders and his team to develop the creative legal and bureaucratic language necessary for allowing UIS to admit more “first-year students,” the new term for freshmen. He always had the end goal in mind, and he succeeded. This fall, UIS enrolled 312 first-year students, which would not have been possible 25 years ago.
Chris Miller, who served as UIS’s vice chancellor for Student Affairs under Ringeisen, said Ringeisen “was deeply committed to doing things right, and UIS benefitted greatly from his vision, commitment and unwavering dedication to advancing its status.” Miller said Ringeisen envisioned more students living on campus, robust interactions with faculty and “a comprehensive traditional student experience with traditions and customs (like homecoming) specifically designed for UIS. He was relentless in this pursuit. He had great clarity of purpose, and that clarity created what we see today.”
To enhance student life and enhance enrollment, Ringeisen promoted intercollegiate athletics. He almost single-handedly brought men’s basketball to the campus, and he persuaded Lanphier High School graduate and former Boston Celtics star Kevin Gamble to become the first UIS coach. That created buzz in the community and on campus, as well as some controversy for procedural reasons. But Ringeisen was not deterred, personally attending many games and sometimes lamenting that more people in Springfield did not realize that “really good college basketball is played at UIS.” The chancellor also moved UIS from the NAIA to NCAA Division II, where the term “student-athlete” still matters. UIS annually recruits athletes from around the world, adding to its diversity.
Ringeisen oversaw the construction of one major academic building, University Hall, which opened in 2004. He took advantage of that $31 million project to add what became the Quad, anchored by the massive Colonnade, a series of pillars in a circle that has become the most photographed location on campus. Without Ringeisen, there would be no Colonnade, and there might not be Division II athletics at UIS.
One other new building he eagerly wanted was an athletics and fitness complex, because all UIS had was a small gym similar to what any middle school has. That required student fees and donations to make it happen because a university athletics facility cannot be financed by a state appropriation. He got the student government leaders to approve an ongoing new fee, and he developed a good relationship with Charles Hoogland of Family Video, which was thriving. On stage the day Hoogland announced his $1 million gift, Hoogland said with an amusing but admiring tone that when the chancellor explained that students had agreed to pay an annual fee for The Recreation and Athletics Center (TRAC), he figured he needed to put some money in, too. The $17.2 million TRAC opened in 2007.
Ringeisen’s aspiration for UIS to be “the best small public liberal arts university” has faded away, initially replaced by the “Leadership Lived” branding and, more recently, by the more formal “public regional comprehensive university.” So it goes with a local institution founded in 1970 as a “public affairs university” initially named Sangamon State.
Ringeisen and his wife, Carolyn, retired to Seneca, South Carolina, near Clemson, after leaving UIS in 2010. Miller remained in regular contact with them after he left Marquette for a senior-level position at Clemson. “I remember quite clearly how he would always say to me at UIS, ‘Please don’t respond to my questions with the word ‘Can’t,’” Miller said. “I reflect on those conversations between us almost daily. I am forever indebted to him for his leadership, kindness, mentorship and, above all else, his friendship. He poured into me without reservation or consequence.”
Ringeisen was diagnosed with the early stages of Parkinson’s while in Springfield and chose to keep that information private. It slowed him down very little while here, but the Indiana native died in South Carolina after a spirited battle with the ailment Feb. 18, 2025, at the age of 80.
Ed Wojcicki of Springfield, a regular contributor to Illinois Times, was Chancellor Ringeisen’s chief of staff at UIS from 2001-2010 and held the same position for Chancellor Susan Koch from 2011-2014.
This article appears in January 1-7, 2026.
