Alum of the Month - January 2018

Carmen Ritacco ‘16

AOTM

“RMU has provided me with an experience like no other, and that's a connection I can share with my father now."

Carmen Ritacco ‘16 had advanced far in his career without a college degree, but when a colleague and friend encouraged him to pursue an online degree from RMU, he knew it was the right thing to do.

Carmen, an IT director at Bayer in Robinson, says his organizational leadership degree offered him a sense of relief and job security. “I am very fortunate to be able to work at a company like Bayer and advance to the level I did without a degree,” he says. “Not having a degree always bothered me, and very few people knew about it until I finally graduated.

The Peters Township resident manages over 50 people who take care of IT for Bayer in the United States and parts of Latin America. “Most of all, I enjoy the people side of the job,” he says. “Helping people grow, providing coaching and feedback, and watching them flourish is what drives me to work every day.”

Carmen’s son, Anthony, is a senior at RMU studying graphic design. Although their experiences are different because Anthony lives on campus while Carmen got his degree online, both are proud to be Colonials.

“RMU has provided me with an experience like no other, and that's a connection I can share with my father now,” Anthony says. “I’ll be proud to be an RMU alum alongside him.”