He has served as chairman of the Tennessee Valley Base Realignment and Closures Committee since 1994 and as co-chairman of the Tennessee Valley Growth Coordination Group since 2008. He also served as a member of the University of Alabama's board of trustees from 2005 to 2011. Ritch serves on the board of directors at several other companies and nonprofits, including Axiometrics and the Von Braun Center for Innovative Science. He received a B.S. from the University of Alabama in Huntsville, a J.D. from Samford University's Cumberland School of Law, and an LL.M. in Taxation from New York University.