2013 LARCUM Bishops’ Dialogue Our Call to Education
November 18, 2013
Featured Speaker
Richard W. Riley
Former U.S. Secretary of Education & Former Governor of South Carolina
Dick Riley is the first two- term Governor of South Carolina (1979-87) and the longest-serving U.S. Secretary of Education (1993-2001). As Governor of South Carolina, he initiated the Education Improvement Act, heralded by the RAND Corporation to be the “most comprehensive education reform measure in the United States” at that time. As U.S. Secretary of Education, he helped President Clinton launch historic initiatives to raise academic standards, improve instruction for the poor and disadvantaged, increase parent and business involvement in education, provide after-school education enrichment, expand grant and loan programs to help more Americans go to college, prepare young people for the world of work, and improve teaching.
After leaving public office, Riley returned to his law firm, Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough where he established EducationCounsel, a mission-based consulting team that combines knowledge and experience in policy, strategy, law and advocacy to drive significant improvements in the U.S. education system. As part of EducationCounsel’s work, Riley chaired the Commission on the Regulation of Postsecondary Distance Education.
Riley has remained a public ambassador for education improvement in South Carolina, at the national level, and abroad. He co-chairs the National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future (NCTAF) and serves on the boards of several other education entities, including his alma mater, Furman University.
The Christian Science Monitor has said that many Americans regard Secretary Riley as “one of the great statesmen of education in this (20th) century.” In addition to hundreds of local, state and national awards for his education and other public leadership, Riley has been inducted into the South Carolina Hall of Fame and TIME Magazine named him one of our nation’s Top 10 Best Cabinet Members
