Albertus Magnus College Mourns the Loss of Albert F. Ridinger
Former Board of Trustee Member Passionate About Education
Albert F. Ridinger, former Board of Trustee
New Haven, Conn, March 25, 2024 – The Albertus Magnus College Community mourns the loss of Albert F. Ridinger, a former Board of Trustee member, who passed away March 12. He was 98.
Ridinger was a dedicated Trustee who served on the Executive and Finance Committees for 22 years - providing vision and wisdom in promoting the mission of Albertus. In addition, in 1999, he was the Trustee representative as the College prepared for its institutional reaccreditation process with the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC) - now known as the New England Commission of Higher Education (NECHE).
Born in New Haven in 1926, the only child of Mary (Fraher) and Albert Ridinger, Albert developed a strong work ethic by driving a delivery truck for the family’s grocery store. After graduating from St. Mary’s High school in 1944, Ridinger enlisted in the US Navy and served aboard the destroyer, the USS Walker. After the war, he graduated from Yale University and started his own insurance agency - which later merged to form Insurance Management, Inc., where he worked for the remainder of his career.
Throughout his life, Ridinger committed himself to numerous professional boards and charitable organizations, including Albertus Magnus College Board of Trustees from 1981-2006; the Evergreen Cemetery Board as President Emeritus. Notably, he was president of the "Big I" - the Independent Insurance Agents of America; Chairman of the Woodbridge Board of Education when Beecher School South was built; and a building committee member for the Woodbridge Town Library. An avid golfer, he was also Past President of the New Haven Country Club, Quinnipiac Club, and the Woodbridge Club.
A Mass of Christian Burial was held on March 25 at Our Lady of the Assumption Church in Woodbridge.
About Albertus Magnus College
Albertus Magnus College, founded in 1925, is a coeducational Catholic College in the Dominican tradition. As New England's most diverse Catholic College, Albertus' values and liberal arts-based education is recognized by external rankings such as US News & World Report, Money Magazine, and The Wall Street Journal/Times Higher Education, and has been named a Top 10 Military Friendly School. For seven consecutive years, graduating classes at Albertus have achieved post-graduate employment and graduate school success at a rate of at least 95%. The College has an enrollment of approximately 1,300 students across its traditional undergraduate, accelerated adult undergraduate, and 11 graduate programs. Proud to enroll a student body where more than half of its students come from minority backgrounds with nearly the same percentage of undergraduates receiving Federal Pell Grants and being first generation college goers, Albertus is known for its innovative curricular offerings, recently launching new Bachelor’s degree programs in Game and Computer Arts, General Health Sciences, Interdisciplinary Studies, Project Management, Public Health, Social Media, and Supply Chain Management; among its graduate programs is the State of Connecticut's only Master of Arts in Art Therapy and Counseling program. Just two years from its historic 100th Anniversary Year, the College is implementing its Albertus 2025: Lighting the Way to a Second Century strategic plan, which articulates an inspiring, bold vision to "be a destination liberal arts-based college, distinguished in its interdisciplinary and experiential approach to education, rooted in Dominican values, that prepares students for lifelong civic engagement and success." To learn more, please visit albertus.edu.