Rita Meyer

Rita C. Meyer (born 1951) is the former Wyoming state auditor, the nineteenth person to hold the position. Instead of seeking a second term as auditor in 2010, Meyer ran unsuccessfully as a candidate in the 2010 Wyoming gubernatorial election. She lost by approximately seven hundred votes to fellow Republican Matt Mead in the primary election held on August 17, 2010.

Early life and education
Meyer lived near Johnstown in Brown County in northern Nebraska. In 1977, the family moved to Centennial, Wyoming. Meyer attended the University of Wyoming and holds an MBA from Regis University in Denver, Colorado, and a Master’s in National Resource Strategy from National Defense University in Washington, D.C.

Professional career
From 1998 to 2002, Meyer was the chief of staff to Republican Governor Jim Geringer. She also served on the University of Wyoming Board of Trustees and as head of the Service Academy Nomination Committee for the late U.S. Senator Malcolm Wallop.

Military career
Meyer served too for more than twenty-three years as an enlisted airman and officer in the Wyoming Air National Guard, having attained the rank of full Colonel in July 2004. She is a combat veteran of both Desert Storm and Operation Enduring Freedom. Her final overseas assignment was as Mission Support Group Commander at Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan. She retired from the military in November 2007.

She also served as an Admissions Liaison Officer to the United States Air Force Academy and the Reserve Officers' Training Corps.

Awards and recognition
Meyer has received the award of Outstanding Alumnus from both the University of Wyoming College of Business and the College of Education, the Legion of Merit, the Order of the Bayonet, and the Order of St. Barbara.

Personal life
She is married to Dr. Charles Meyer, a retired dentist and a native of Rawlins, Wyoming. The couple has one son, Charles Stoddard Meyer, a Navy Lieutenant, and a daughter-in-law, Emily, an export control attorney in Arlington, Virginia.