The BYU-Hawaii School of Business has named James W. Ritchie as the new director of the university's Willes Center for International Entrepreneurship.

Ritchie, from Heber, Utah, will serve in the voluntary role for two to three years, according to Clayton Hubner, the business school's dean.

Ritchie, principal of The Ritchie Group: Real Estate & Investments, will succeed Gregory V. Gibson, J.D. as the new CIE director on June 1. Gibson will continue in his role as a member of the School of Business faculty.

Ritchie was involved in starting up numerous companies, including car, farm-equipment and snowmobile dealerships; feed mills, campgrounds, motels, hotels, restaurants, rental properties, travel agencies and two hospitals.

His company is currently involved in the development of a 335-unit luxury condo project in Po'ipu, Kaua'i, and he recently helped finance a start-up bottled-water company in Samoa. As the former senior vice president for the Franklin Quest Company, Ritchie also helped open operations in Japan and Hong Kong.