J. Bonner Ritchie (1935-2024), Professor Emeritus of International Organizational Behavior at the BYU Marriott School of Management and Scholar in Residence at Utah Valley University, was a distinguished academic and passionate advocate for leadership development and peacemaking. Born in Salt Lake City in 1935 and raised in Heber City until the age of twelve, Bonner’s family then moved to San Francisco, where he completed his high school education. He earned his B.S. and Ph.D. at the University of California, Berkeley.

From 1959 to 1963, Bonner served as an Army officer in Germany. After completing graduate work in Labor Relations and Organizational Behavior, he joined the faculty at the University of Michigan, where he taught from 1967 to 1973. In 1973, he moved to Brigham Young University (BYU), where he remained until his retirement in 2000. During his career, Bonner also held visiting professor appointments at prestigious institutions such as Stanford University, the University of California, St. Mary’s College, the BYU Jerusalem Center for Near East Studies, BirZeit University (Palestine), the University of Jordan, the University of Southern Europe, and the Jordan Institute of Diplomacy.

Bonner received numerous accolades throughout his career, 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. His teaching, research, and consulting focused on leadership development, organizational change, conflict resolution and peacemaking, organizational philosophy, and ethics, with recent efforts centered on leadership development and peacemaking in the Arab world.

In addition to his academic contributions, Bonner was deeply committed to community service. He was a founding board member of the Organizational Behavior Teaching Society, served as a member and chair of the Utah Liquor Commission for seventeen years, and was a founding board member of the Coalition for Utah’s Future.

Bonner’s passion for citizen participation and grassroots democracy led him to actively support programs and movements dedicated to creating constructive change. He hoped that his work with the UCC could contribute to such efforts in Utah.

Bonner and his wife, Lois, had four children and eight grandchildren. They resided in Provo, where Bonner’s legacy of scholarship, service, and leadership continues to inspire those who knew him.