Sam Rich (Hinckley Institute of Politics and College of Social & Behavioral Sciences)

Sam Rich

How They're Helping
Sam and Ruth Rich's decades-long support of The U reaches across campus, with gifts to student scholarships, KUED-Channel 7, Pioneer Theatre Company, and the Huntsman Cancer Institute as well as endowed scholarships in nursing and orthopedics.

Sam and Ruth also created two generous charitable gift annuities that were structured to provide them both with regular payments for life. The remaining proceeds of the annuities will create an endowed fund for the Sam Rich Program in International Politics at The U's Hinckley Institute of Politics in the College of Social and Behavioral Science. The fund is designed to raise the profile of The U in the field of international politics, create strategic partnerships with other academic departments, and support lectures, symposia, conferences, and other programs.

Why They Give
Ruth graduated from the U in 1940 in social work before meeting Sam; he graduated from the U in 1942 with a degree in political science. They married, and Sam continued his studies at the University of Mexico, Yale, Princeton, and Columbia—eventually earning his master's and Ph.D. from Stanford University.

Sam was the driving spirit behind the U's international relations major and certificate programs and served on the political science faculty for 31 years. A beloved teacher and colleague, he was internationally recognized for his research and teaching of foreign policy and international security. He held visiting professorships at several international institutions and contributed to textbooks on law and American foreign policy.

Devoted to civic and social service, Sam served as the U.S. vice consul to Spain during World War II and as President Kennedy's appointee as professor of foreign affairs at the National War College in Washington, D.C. He spoke to civic groups and on college campuses across the country and lectured for the New York Council on Foreign Relations and the Department of Defense. He served on the boards of the Art Barn and St. Mark's School and as president of the Salt Lake City Committee on Foreign Relations, the Inter-American Council of Utah, and the Utah Association for the United Nations.