{"id":33986,"date":"2024-09-09T08:15:50","date_gmt":"2024-09-09T12:15:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/?p=33986"},"modified":"2024-09-09T09:13:17","modified_gmt":"2024-09-09T13:13:17","slug":"furmans-riley-institute-names-bryan-boroughs-as-executive-director","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/furmans-riley-institute-names-bryan-boroughs-as-executive-director\/","title":{"rendered":"Furman\u2019s Riley Institute Names Bryan Boroughs as Executive Director"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Riley Institute at Furman University<\/a> has appointed Bryan Boroughs \u201902 its executive director. Boroughs will assume leadership on Oct. 1, taking the reins from the institute\u2019s founding Executive Director Don Gordon, who is stepping into an advisory role, and Deputy Director Jacki Martin, who is retiring.<\/p>\n

Boroughs brings a wealth of policy and leadership experience in critical areas of The Riley Institute\u2019s work. He spent the last decade at the Institute for Child Success, most recently serving as chief operating officer and general counsel. He previously served as an investigative counsel on the United States Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions.<\/p>\n

\"A

Don Gordon, founding executive director of The Riley Institute.<\/p><\/div>\n

Boroughs received his bachelor\u2019s degree from Furman University and his law degree and a master\u2019s of public policy from Georgetown University. He is a 2015 graduate of The Riley Institute\u2019s Diversity Leaders Initiative<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe chance to contribute to the impact of this incredible team\u2014and to do so on the campus that played such a significant role in my life\u2014is the kind of opportunity most people can only dream of,\u201d Boroughs said. \u201cI am so honored and excited to lead The Riley Institute into its next quarter century and am so very grateful to Don and Jacki for the remarkable institute they have built.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are delighted to welcome Bryan home to Furman and very excited for him to be the next leader of The Riley Institute,\u201d said Richard W. Riley \u201954<\/a>, namesake of the Institute, Furman alumnus, two-term Democratic governor of South Carolina and U.S. Secretary of Education under President Bill Clinton. In 2008, Riley was named one of the \u201cTop 10 Cabinet Members of the 20th<\/sup> Century\u201d by TIME magazine.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe all are very fortunate that Don and Jacki have dedicated their time and talents toward building The Riley Institute into a nationally respected resource for public education research and improvement, as well as for diversity expertise,\u201d Riley said. \u201cWhat Don created, and Jacki elevated, is unprecedented in South Carolina. Thousands of people from all walks of life in South Carolina and beyond have benefited from their effective leadership in developing high-quality initiatives to advance our society, and an excellent internal team to implement those progressive programs.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Riley Institute is synonymous with excellence and represents Furman University\u2019s ability to reach beyond campus to help communities everywhere, while providing leadership opportunities for our students,\u201d said Furman President Elizabeth Davis<\/a>. \u201cThe scope of its outreach is equaled by its principled methods and unflinching integrity. We can\u2019t thank Don and Jacki and everyone at the institute enough. I\u2019m looking forward to welcoming Bryan and supporting his vision.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gordon served as The Riley Institute\u2019s executive director from its beginning in the fall of 1999 until July 2024. He will continue to work with the institute as special counsel.<\/p>\n

Working with Riley, Gordon strategically designed The Riley Institute to advance social and economic progress in South Carolina and beyond, to benefit Furman students through high-quality programs and experiences and to create better educational outcomes for public school students across South Carolina and the country. Following the former Secretary of Education’s example, the institute was founded on the principles of nonpartisanship and evidence-informed approaches to change.<\/p>\n

Under Gordon\u2019s direction, The Riley Institute grew from a part-time, one-person initiative into three centers focusing on diversity leadership, public education and critical issues confronting the state and the nation. The Riley Institute grew to 18 staff and more than 40 programs.<\/p>\n

Martin joined as deputy director in 2009 to help manage and expand the programs.<\/p>\n

Martin quickly grew the institute\u2019s statewide footprint by developing its signature OneSouthCarolina<\/a> awards and events; conceptualizing the annual StraightTalk<\/a> series carried out in partnership with OLLI@Furman; and securing a federal Investing in Innovation (i3) grant. Awarded in 2011 to KnowledgeWorks, The Riley Institute, and two South Carolina school districts, the i3 grant was designed to pilot and expand the New Tech Network project-based learning approach.<\/p>\n

Martin\u2019s retirement was celebrated with campus and community partners on August 20.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Riley Institute simply would not be what it is today without the leadership and vision Jacki brought to her role,\u201d Gordon said. \u201cThe institute owes its sterling reputation to her dedication to excellence and carrying out our mission.\u201d<\/p>\n

Claudia Winkler, director of marketing and communications for The Riley Institute, contributed to this report.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Don Gordon, the founding executive director of The Riley Institute, will step into an advisory role. Jacki Martin is retiring as deputy director. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":389,"featured_media":33985,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[2998,331,269],"class_list":["post-33986","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-riley-institute","tag-bryan-boroughs","tag-don-gordon","tag-the-riley-institute"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33986","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/389"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33986"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33986\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33993,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33986\/revisions\/33993"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33985"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33986"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33986"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33986"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}