Former Baylor Student-Athlete Services Director Dies
4/25/2025 5:23:00 PM | General, Student-Athlete Center for Excellence
Funeral service set for 11 a.m. Thursday at First Baptist Waco
By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
WACO, Texas – Col. Earl "Don" Riley, former director of a Baylor Student-Athlete Services department that became the standard for every other school in the Big 12 Conference, passed away Wednesday, April 23, at Ridgecrest Retirement and Health Care Center in Waco.
Funeral services for Col. Riley, 85, are scheduled for 11 a.m. Thursday, May 1, at First Baptist Church of Waco. Visitation will be held from 5-7 p.m. Wednesday, April 30, at Wilkirson-Hatch-Bailey Funeral Home in Waco.
Col. Riley capped off a 26-year military career as the Air Force ROTC Commander and Professor of Aerospace Studies at Baylor University, retiring in 1989. His second career started in 1990, initially working as an advisor in Baylor's Office of Academic Advisement and eventually taking on the role as Director of Student-Athlete Services in 1996.
"Col. Riley started academic programs that our current students are still benefitting from nearly 30 years later," said Baylor VP and Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Mack Rhoades. "Not only with his service to country through the Air Force, he also left a tremendous legacy with Baylor Athletics. On a personal level, I know I will miss his visits to the athletic department to check on us and make sure that we're doing well. Our thoughts and prayers are with his wife, Nancy, daughter and son-in-law, Michelle and Eric Shero, and grandsons, Riley and Reagan."
Dr. Joel Porter, a former Baylor football player who worked under Riley as a student-athlete advisor, said "Don was always trying to help student-athletes be successful."
"He started many programs in Student-Athlete Services to promote and recognize our student-athletes," said Dr. Porter, who is currently the Assistant Dean of the School of Education. "Several got NCAA graduate scholarships, and some even went on to work for the NCAA."
When Porter returned to his alma mater 27 years ago, "he was my first boss. I was literally thrust upon him. He had little to no say in my hiring, but he took it with grace and treated me wonderfully. He was a great guy who I will always remember. He was a better friend who will be missed."
Born and raised in Amarillo, Texas, Don graduated from Texas Tech in 1958 with a BBA degree in economics and later received a master's in counseling from Troy State University in Alabama.
Joining the Air Force in 1963, he was stationed in various places in the U.S., including Boston, Alaska, Alabama and Colorado. While serving as the assistant operations office for the Tactical Air Control Center-North Sector in Vietnam, Don was awarded the Bronze Star for demonstrating "professional ability, sound judgement and great enthusiasm in overcoming the many involved problems associated with his duties."
Before coming to Baylor, he did another foreign tour with the Super Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) in Belgium, where he was instrumental in developing and publishing the Tri-Major NATO Commander's Command and Control Plan. Col. Riley also received the Defense Superior Service Medal, the Legion Merit and the Defense Meritorious Service Medal.
Following his three years as Commander of the Air Force ROTC program at Baylor, he transitioned to the Office of Academic Advisement in 1990 and was promoted to Director of Student-Athlete Services six years later.
Dr. Porter said Riley "literally helped save my career at Baylor."
"I was actively looking for another job, which he knew, and he went out of his way to find another place for me at Baylor and worked it out with Human Resources and the School of Education for me to move to the School of Ed," Porter said. "And I have been there ever since."
Returning to the university academic side in 2009, Don retired a second time in April 2014.
In an editorial from the Dallas Morning News in October 2004, Col. Riley and Baylor's Student-Athlete Services team were lauded for a Big 12-best 78% graduation rate for its student-athletes, "which is eight percentage points higher than the student body as a whole."
"Only the brainiacs at the University of Kansas came within 15 points of Baylor; and in Texas, only Rice has a higher rate," the editorial continued.
With his daughter, Michelle, lettering for Baylor track and field (1991-94), Don became a national member of the U.S. Track and Field Association for Track Officials and served as an official for both the Southwest Conference and Big 12, the National Junior Track and Field Championships and several NCAA Championship events.
While working at Baylor, he was also a member of the Baylor Women's Athletic Council, an advisor for the Phi Delta Theta and Alpha Chi Omega fraternities and received the Norman "Moon" Mullins Bear Foundation Distinguished Honor Role for Faculty and Staff award.
A longtime member of First Baptist Waco, teaching a ninth-grade Sunday School class and serving as president of the Judge Abner V. McCall Class, Don's faith was a prevalent part of his life, as evidenced by the way he treated everyone around him.
Don is survived by his wife, Nancy Riley; his daughter, Michelle Shero and husband, Eric Shero; his grandsons, Riley Shero and Reagan Shero and wife, Clare Shero; his brother, Jack Riley; several nieces and nephews.
For information on donations or memorials, you can visit the WHB website at Riley Obit.
Baylor Bear Insider
WACO, Texas – Col. Earl "Don" Riley, former director of a Baylor Student-Athlete Services department that became the standard for every other school in the Big 12 Conference, passed away Wednesday, April 23, at Ridgecrest Retirement and Health Care Center in Waco.
Funeral services for Col. Riley, 85, are scheduled for 11 a.m. Thursday, May 1, at First Baptist Church of Waco. Visitation will be held from 5-7 p.m. Wednesday, April 30, at Wilkirson-Hatch-Bailey Funeral Home in Waco.
Col. Riley capped off a 26-year military career as the Air Force ROTC Commander and Professor of Aerospace Studies at Baylor University, retiring in 1989. His second career started in 1990, initially working as an advisor in Baylor's Office of Academic Advisement and eventually taking on the role as Director of Student-Athlete Services in 1996.
"Col. Riley started academic programs that our current students are still benefitting from nearly 30 years later," said Baylor VP and Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Mack Rhoades. "Not only with his service to country through the Air Force, he also left a tremendous legacy with Baylor Athletics. On a personal level, I know I will miss his visits to the athletic department to check on us and make sure that we're doing well. Our thoughts and prayers are with his wife, Nancy, daughter and son-in-law, Michelle and Eric Shero, and grandsons, Riley and Reagan."
Dr. Joel Porter, a former Baylor football player who worked under Riley as a student-athlete advisor, said "Don was always trying to help student-athletes be successful."
"He started many programs in Student-Athlete Services to promote and recognize our student-athletes," said Dr. Porter, who is currently the Assistant Dean of the School of Education. "Several got NCAA graduate scholarships, and some even went on to work for the NCAA."
When Porter returned to his alma mater 27 years ago, "he was my first boss. I was literally thrust upon him. He had little to no say in my hiring, but he took it with grace and treated me wonderfully. He was a great guy who I will always remember. He was a better friend who will be missed."
Born and raised in Amarillo, Texas, Don graduated from Texas Tech in 1958 with a BBA degree in economics and later received a master's in counseling from Troy State University in Alabama.
Joining the Air Force in 1963, he was stationed in various places in the U.S., including Boston, Alaska, Alabama and Colorado. While serving as the assistant operations office for the Tactical Air Control Center-North Sector in Vietnam, Don was awarded the Bronze Star for demonstrating "professional ability, sound judgement and great enthusiasm in overcoming the many involved problems associated with his duties."
Before coming to Baylor, he did another foreign tour with the Super Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) in Belgium, where he was instrumental in developing and publishing the Tri-Major NATO Commander's Command and Control Plan. Col. Riley also received the Defense Superior Service Medal, the Legion Merit and the Defense Meritorious Service Medal.
Following his three years as Commander of the Air Force ROTC program at Baylor, he transitioned to the Office of Academic Advisement in 1990 and was promoted to Director of Student-Athlete Services six years later.
Dr. Porter said Riley "literally helped save my career at Baylor."
"I was actively looking for another job, which he knew, and he went out of his way to find another place for me at Baylor and worked it out with Human Resources and the School of Education for me to move to the School of Ed," Porter said. "And I have been there ever since."
Returning to the university academic side in 2009, Don retired a second time in April 2014.
In an editorial from the Dallas Morning News in October 2004, Col. Riley and Baylor's Student-Athlete Services team were lauded for a Big 12-best 78% graduation rate for its student-athletes, "which is eight percentage points higher than the student body as a whole."
"Only the brainiacs at the University of Kansas came within 15 points of Baylor; and in Texas, only Rice has a higher rate," the editorial continued.
With his daughter, Michelle, lettering for Baylor track and field (1991-94), Don became a national member of the U.S. Track and Field Association for Track Officials and served as an official for both the Southwest Conference and Big 12, the National Junior Track and Field Championships and several NCAA Championship events.
While working at Baylor, he was also a member of the Baylor Women's Athletic Council, an advisor for the Phi Delta Theta and Alpha Chi Omega fraternities and received the Norman "Moon" Mullins Bear Foundation Distinguished Honor Role for Faculty and Staff award.
A longtime member of First Baptist Waco, teaching a ninth-grade Sunday School class and serving as president of the Judge Abner V. McCall Class, Don's faith was a prevalent part of his life, as evidenced by the way he treated everyone around him.
Don is survived by his wife, Nancy Riley; his daughter, Michelle Shero and husband, Eric Shero; his grandsons, Riley Shero and Reagan Shero and wife, Clare Shero; his brother, Jack Riley; several nieces and nephews.
For information on donations or memorials, you can visit the WHB website at Riley Obit.
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