Jim Riordan, the founder of Florida Atlantic University’s (FAU) MBA Sport Management Programme, leaves a substantial legacy at FAU and across the wider sports industry after sadly passing away in March of this year.
Highlighting Riordan’s importance and standing at FAU, the university held a celebration of his life on April 28 at the FAU Stadium with attendees including former and current students of the MBA Sport programme, colleagues, and friends.
Prior to launching FAU’s MBA Sport programme in July 2000, Riordan had established his academic credentials by earning both his bachelors and MBA degrees from St. John’s University, New York, and then pursuing doctoral studies at Temple University, Philadelphia, before going on to earn his Ph.D. in Higher Educational Leadership-Higher Education from FAU.
Throughout Riordan’s professional career, he specialised in event operations and crowd management, was appointed as director of security and event services for the Spectrum Centre in Philadelphia, and served in several key roles: Manager of Event Services at Long Island’s Nassau Coliseum; Director of Operations for the Richmond (VA) Coliseum and Mosque Theatre; and as Director of Operations for the Philadelphia Civic Center during his time working for Spectacor Management Group (SMG) between 1989 and 1994. He also applied his event management skills to the 1996 Olympic Games and both Super Bowl XXXIII in Miami and XXXIV in Atlanta.
Riordan’s first foray into working in higher education was the five years he spent as the Director of the Master of Science in Sport Administration at Canisius College in Buffalo, New York.
After moving to South Florida, Riordan went on to make a highly significant impact in sport education when he initiated the MBA Sport Management Programme at FAU.
FAU has never placed outside of the global top 30 since SportBusiness began its Postgraduate Rankings. FAU has again achieved a strong result in this year’s rankings, placing 11th worldwide.
The high career placement rate of the MBA in Sport Management students was one of the distinguishing features and biggest achievements of the course.
Personal Tributes
At the event to celebrate Riordan’s life, several of those who knew him paid personal tributes.
John Kelly, FAU president: “He wasn’t going to let you fail unless you chose to fail and that’s a really great attribute of an educator. He didn’t like anyone to beat him at what he was doing and that’s a great competitor and a person you really want on your team. When I arrived here and looked at what FAU did, the person who had the highest ranking of anything we did was Jim Riordan with the Sports Management programme; so I said to him, Jim, ‘How much better can you get?’ And he said, ‘How much better do you want?’ ”
Vegar Wiik, assistant dean, FAU Business, executive director, FAU executive education: “Describing him was describing passion for his work, passion for FAU Sports, passionate about the sports industry but most passionate about his students.”
Marc Savain, assistant coordinator, FAU Sport Management MBA: “He used to always say it was never about him; it was all the students’ hard work, ‘I had nothing to do with it,’ he’d say.”
George Linley, FAU Sport Management, MBA Class of 2003; executive director, Palm Beach County Sports Commission: “He has been one of the most influential leaders in my life. A person I respect immensely and love dearly, who represents a university that I also love very dearly. Together this university and Dr. Riordan are responsible for my success and triumphs, both from a professional and personal perspective. This is true for so many other students. He was first my teacher, then he became one of the greatest mentors that I had; he also became a great friend and will always be part of my family.”
Legacy
Riordan’s legacy is surely best illustrated by the students that have come through the MBA Sport Management Programme at FAU and gone on to great success in the sports industry and by those that doubtlessly will follow the same path in the future.
Some of the organisations that have hired FAU sport management students include: the Miami Dolphins, Miami Heat, the Boston Bruins, the University of Miami Hurricanes, the LPGA and the Atlantic Coast Conference.
His legacy will be further cemented by the establishment of the Dr. Jim Riordan Student Support Endowment by the FAU College of Business. The fund will support students in the MBA Sport Management programme.
Dan Cornely, Assistant Director of FAU’s MBA in Sport Management Program will succeed Dr. Riordan and he had this to say about the program: “We are so fortunate to have a world-class foundation set by Jim for our Sport Management Program here at FAU. We will continue his legacy of excellence daily by recruiting the right students, ensuring they have high-profile jobs in the sports industry, and developing an elite and innovative curriculum that prepares students for success in their careers.”
We’ll leave the last word to Daniel Gropper, dean of FAU College of Business, who said at Riordan’s celebration of life event: “Jim Riordan was one of those guys who was a pillar of the community, a pillar of the college. Jim is a legend not only here with our students, but he carried that reputation outside. He made a positive impact on so many people and his memory will not be forgotten.”
This article is part of the 2022 SportBusiness Postgraduate Rankings. To browse the entire report and view the overall tables, click here.