AFIT welcomes Dr. Dennis Rittle, President of NorthWest Arkansas Community College

We’re delighted to welcome Dr. Dennis Rittle, President of NorthWest Arkansas Community College (NWACC) in Bentonville, Arkansas, to our community of innovators. 

With over 30 years in higher education leadership across public, private, and government sectors, Dr. Rittle is a first-generation college graduate, decorated veteran, and lifelong advocate for student success and workforce development. He holds six degrees and completed post-doctoral work at Harvard University. 

Under his leadership, NWACC is driving national innovation—launching Arkansas’s first AAS in Artificial Intelligence, serving as a beta site for integrated credit systems, and participating in the AI for ALL initiative led by AACC and Microsoft.  

NWACC offers unique programs like Construction Trails and Bike Tech, and its Physical Therapy Assistant program has maintained a 100% first-time pass rate for 27 years. Their Brightwater culinary program is nationally ranked and currently engaged in an international faculty exchange with Japan. 

The College is undergoing a transformative $1.5 billion campus expansion, increasing operations five-fold and serving as a global model for educational infrastructure. Their approach was recently adopted by Saudi Arabia for the development of a new community college. 

Dr. Rittle joined AFIT to collaborate with fellow leaders advancing innovation in education and workforce development. 

Sammantha Taylor, Executive Administrative Assistant and Clerk of the Board will serve as the NorthWest Arkansas Community College team's AFIT Rep. 

AI assisted, human reviewed.