MALDEF Mourns the Passing of Longtime Boardmember Douglas Ring
Douglas Ring was a well-respected civic leader, developer, and philanthropist in Los Angeles
November 13, 2009
LOS ANGELES - Yesterday, the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF), mourned the loss of Douglas Ring, a valued boardmember and veteran supporter of the organization.
MALDEF President and General Counsel Thomas A. Saenz stated, “MALDEF mourns the loss of Doug Ring, a strong supporter and boardmember of MALDEF. Doug helped to build Los Angeles in many ways, and one of these ways was through his generous civic and philanthropic engagement. We will feel his absence for many years to come.”
Los Angeles County Supervisor Gloria Molina, a fellow MALDEF Boardmember said, “Doug was quiet about his philanthropy, generous of heart, a wise advisor to many art and community organizations and a civic-minded businessman and lawyer. His leadership, wise counsel and generosity will be missed by many who continue to lead this great City of Los Angeles.”
MALDEF sends its deepest sympathies to the Ring family for their loss of Mr. Douglas Ring.
Douglas Ring’s biography:
Douglas Ring is both a private investor and an attorney. His company, The Ring Group, is a diversified real estate investment company, owning properties in California, the Northwest, the Midwest, and Virginia. Their principal activities are in multi-family rental housing and the hotel industry. He is actively involved in developing multi-family rental units in both the Los Angeles and Ventura County areas.
Mr. Ring served the City of Los Angeles as a Commissioner of the Los Angeles Community Redevelopment Agency. The Agency is charged with overseeing and implementing development in all of the "blighted" areas of Los Angeles. As the only developer on the 7 member commission, Mr. Ring has been involved in helping formulate redevelopment plans both for affordable and market rate housing, as well as retail and commercial space. The Redevelopment Agency has an annual budget of approximately $350,000,000.
As an attorney, he specialized in both administrative and real estate law. Prior to his wife's election to the Los Angeles City Council, he represented clients before municipal and County agencies. He was involved in obtaining land use approvals for major office complexes, large multi-family residential developments, single-family tracts, as well as major shopping centers. He has also served as special counsel to various government agencies.
Before entering private practice, Mr. Ring was a Deputy Los Angeles County Supervisor and a United States Congressional Field Representative.
Mr. Ring also served as the Chairman of the Board of the Children's Museum of Los Angeles and headed up their effort to build a new children's museum in Los Angeles. He also has served on the Boards of Coro Southern California and the National Coro Board and Los Angeles Theatre Works. He also has had the privilege of serving on the Board of Trustees of The College of Santa Fe.
Mr. Ring was the Trustee of the Selden Ring Award for Investigative Journalism. This award is the nation's largest prize in Journalism and is administered by the USC Annenberg School of Journalism.
Formerly, Mr. Ring was President of the Board of Library Commissioners of the City of Los Angeles. In that capacity he was responsible for overseeing the construction of the new $230 Million Dollar Los Angeles Central Library. He also has served on the Boards of the Edmond G. "Pat" Brown Institute of Public Affairs; the Center Theater Group (Mark Taper & Ahmanson); the Dance Gallery; The Western Center on Law and Poverty; the Central City Association; the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF), LA Plaza de Cultura Y Artes; and the American Arts Alliance, the Washington based lobby group for all non-profit theaters, museums, philharmonic orchestras and artistic associations in the United States. Mr. Ring served for five years as the Commissioner of the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, a joint powers authority between the City and the County of Los Angeles charged with disbursing approximately $100,000,000.00 in homeless aid per year.
Active in the legal community, Mr. Ring has served on the Board of Editors of both the California State Bar Journal and Los Angeles Lawyer magazine. Mr. Ring co-authored the "Law and Real Estate" column for the Los Angeles Times for six years. Mr. Ring was named one of "Ten Leading Los Angeles Property Lawyers" by the Los Angeles Daily Journal.
Mr. Ring was married to Cynthia Ann Miscikowski.
For all media inquiries, please contact Laura Rodriguez.
