Former SC governor turns 90, looks back on life, reaching highest level of public service

Upon Richard W. Riley’s 90th birthday Jan. 2, news outlets paid tribute to the former South Carolina governor (1979–1987) and U.S. secretary of education (1993–2001) under Bill Clinton. The State’s Lyn Riddle covered the nonagenarian and namesake of The Riley Institute at Furman University.

The retrospective featured Riley’s years before, during and after his 38 years in public office, including two years as a U.S. Navy officer on a minesweeper – a post he held when he joined Navy Reserves at the age of 17. The piece highlighted his contributions to education reform, namely, the Education Improvement Act, which he enacted while governor, and noted the impact of the people in life including his father, Edward Riley, Richard’s wife, the late Tunky Riley, and friends such as Bill Clinton, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (Obama administration), and Clinton administration U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright who passed in 2022.

Celebrating his birthday in good health and equally good humor, Riley told The State his goal for the coming year would be to “live to 91.” The story was also published in The Rock Hill Herald and The Island Packet.

“Chief Inspiration Officer” of The Riley Institute, Riley is a senior partner of Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough and its affiliate, EducationCounsel.

He has been named Distinguished Professor at the University of South Carolina, and the College of Education at Winthrop University bears his name, as does the College of Education and Leadership at Walden University.

Riley earned his bachelor’s degree, cum laude, in political science from Furman in 1954 and received a J.D. from the University of South Carolina School of Law in 1959. In 2008, Riley was named one of the Top 10 Cabinet Members of the 20th Century by TIME magazine.