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When H. Richard "Dick" Reidenbaugh arrived on campus in 1969 as executive vice president of the WSU Board of Trustees and as the first executive secretary of the WSU Endowment Association, the combined fund balances of both organizations was $2.1 million. When he left in 1984, the total was more than $32 million.
During his 15-year tenure at WSU, the number of donors grew from 1,917 to 7,100. While directing fundraising efforts, he also managed the affairs of the board of trustees, including the 1.5 mill levy, the Student Loan Fund, the golf course and the University Club.
A native of Lancaster, Pa., Reidenbaugh served as a World War II pilot. After returning home, he earned an undergraduate degree from Franklin and Marshall College in 1948 and later earned a graduate degree from Stanford University. Spending most of his career in higher education, he held executive positions at Franklin and Marshall, Chatham, University of Akron and Drexel University before his professional stint at WSU.
In 1985, a few months before he and his family moved back to Pennsylvania, former WSU president Clark Ahlberg summarized his contributions this way: “He has the experience and knowledge needed to help the University organize itself to raise private resources for endowment, for immediate needs, for capital projects and to place these activities on a firm footing. Dick has done the job, and it was no small feat.”
He died Aug. 30 in Lititz, Pa.
