JOHN RITCH

John Ritch came to the WNA in January 2001 after seven years as U.S. ambassador to UN organizations in Vienna, among them the International Atomic Energy Agency and the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Organization. In Vienna, he was active in promoting the IAEA's global strengthened-safeguards system and new conventions on nuclear safety. He participated in the U.S.-North Korea nuclear negotiations and the UN Conferences reviewing the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in 1995 and 2000.

Previously Amb. Ritch was a staff adviser to the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee for 22 years, specializing in East-West relations and nuclear arms control. During that period, he was also an entrepreneur, heading a real estate development company and co-founding a multinational enterprise marketing fitness-related products throughout Europe. He is a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and holds a Master's Degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from Oxford University, where he studied as a Rhodes Scholar.