Dr. Ryan Riche serves as Dean of the College of Health and Human Services at Louisiana State University at Alexandria (LSUA), bringing more than a decade of frontline clinical and administrative healthcare experience to the university. A licensed physical therapist and certified clinical instructor, Dr. Riche brings a practitioner’s insight and a leader’s vision to the next generation of healthcare education at LSUA.
Dr. Riche is a native of central Louisiana and a graduate of Holy Savior Menard Central High School. He holds a Doctorate of Physical Therapy (DPT) from LSU Health Shreveport and a Bachelor of Science in Biology from Louisiana Christian University, with minors in Chemistry and Psychology. He is also a graduate of the Leadership CENLA program and holds certifications through the American Physical Therapy Association.
Before joining LSUA, Dr. Riche spent over 12 years at Rapides Regional Medical Center in Alexandria, where he advanced through multiple clinical and leadership roles. He began as a staff physical therapist, later serving as Director of Rehabilitation Services and then Director of Outpatient Services. In those roles, he oversaw a range of strategic initiatives, including improving patient satisfaction and reducing employee turnover, all while maintaining employee engagement scores above 90%. He also chaired the Outpatient Test and Treatment Committee.
Dr. Riche’s leadership strengths include healthcare program development, interdisciplinary collaboration, process improvement, and clinical education. These areas of expertise position him to strengthen LSUA’s academic offerings while building partnerships across central Louisiana’s health ecosystem.
Outside of higher education, Dr. Riche is active in the local community. He is a member of St. Martin’s Catholic Church in Lecompte, a volunteer youth baseball coach, a beekeeper, and the proud father of two sons, Renn and Aceson.
For external inquiries, Dr. Riche can be reached via email at rriche@lsua.edu.
