George Van Riper was a "naturalized" Kansan who gave much to his adopted state. He was active in politics, business, community activities, and was a lifelong student of the liberal arts. George strived to be a "renaissance man," one involved with vigorous activity along literary, artistic and cultural lines distinguished by the pursuit of learning and an imaginative response to broader horizons.

George was born in Spencer, New York on May 31, 1950, the son of Claude and Betty Van Riper. He attended both grade school and high school in that community. George received his Bachelor of Arts in Political Science in 1972 at the State University of New York at Albany. He attended the Graduate School of Public Affairs at the same institution and later continued his graduate work in public finance at the Hugo Wall Center for Urban Studies at Wichita State University. (WSU awarded him his Masters of Public Administration degree posthumously in 1986.)

George worked in politics and government in New York State prior to moving to Kansas. He was on staff of the Speaker of New York State Assembly and U.S. Senator Jacob Javits. He worked in the New York State Assembly for Assemblywoman Connie Cook and was active in College Republicans for the Mid-Atlantic States. He managed a congressional campaign in up-state New York in the 1976 election.

George moved to Topeka, Kansas in January 1977, to become Executive Director of the Kansas Republican Party. After two years in that position, he moved to Wichita to join Ranson & Company, Inc., an investment banking firm. At Ranson, he was named Executive Vice President and was elected to the Board of Directors. His business activities encompassed financial advisory services to communities in South Texas, as well as throughout Kansas.

George was an active member of the Wichita community. He served on the Wichita Housing Authority beginning in 1982, and as its President in 1984 and 1985. He regularly spoke before various public bodies on the financing of local government projects. George was a member of the Wichita Downtown Y’s Men, a civic club affiliated with the YMCA, and served on the Supervisory Committee of the Credit Union of America.

George also maintained his interest and participation in the political process. He served as Chairman of the Kansas Republican Party’s Legislative Committee for the 1980 elections. His services were in demand as an informal advisor to various city, state, and federal election candidates. In 1985, he accepted a position on Congressman Pat Robert’s Blue Ribbon Committee to plan the Future of Rural Kansas and had looked forward to serving in that capacity.

George Van Riper’s life ended in sudden tragedy in an airplane crash on November 12, 1985, near Wichita while returning from a business trip. George was a man who lived life to the fullest. Possessed of much energy, he was a voracious reader and delightful raconteur; a competitor always; a considerate gentleman; a sensitive person toward others; full of firm convictions about a broad range of topics; a political animal; possessed of integrity which discerned right from wrong and the discipline not to abandon principle; an intellectual whose heart kindled always human warmth and concern for others.

Friends, colleagues, and admirers of George Van Riper established an endowment in his name and then in 1997, created the George Van Riper Fellowship in Public Finance at the Wichita State University Endowment Association. This endowed fellowship is awarded annually on a merit basis to assist students with career interests in public finance to complete the Master of Public Administration degree at Wichita State University.