Adelphi's President to Receive the Georgia State University Distinguished Alumni Award

The Georgia State University Alumni Association will present its top honor, the Distinguished Alumni Award, to five outstanding graduates on October 4, including Adelphi University President Christine M. Riordan. The alumni association describes the double graduate as “an internationally recognized expert in leadership development, team building, and diversity and inclusion.”

President Riordan with her Olde English Bulldogge, Georgia

President Riordan earned an MBA in 1989 and a PhD in organizational behavior in 1995 from Georgia State. Her academic and higher education leadership career included serving as provost of the University of Kentucky and dean of the Daniels College of Business at the University of Denver before being named Adelphi’s 10th president in 2015.

The first woman to serve as Adelphi’s president, Dr. Riordan—in just her first four years in the role—has led the University to an enrollment growth of 12 percent and the University’s four most diverse classes in its history. Alumni giving is at an all-time high and Adelphi has been named to the President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll and has earned the Carnegie Community Engagement Classification.

President Riordan was recently named vice chair of the Commission on Independent Colleges and Universities in New York as well as secretary-treasurer of the Long Island Regional Advisory Council on Higher Education. She consults regularly with corporations on leadership development activities, diversity management and team performance, and serves on the board of directors of RE/MAX Holdings, Inc. Dr. Riordan has published more than 60 academic and business press articles, is writing Shift Happens: How to Adapt and Thrive in a Rapidly Changing World of Work—a book on helping employees adapt to the changing workplace—and is a frequent speaker on leadership and career success. Her TEDx talk, “Dare to Be Extraordinary,” has received more than 20,000 views. She has been interviewed by and written articles for media such as The Financial Times, the Harvard Business Review, Forbes and HuffPost. Dr. Riordan’s work has been cited more than 5,400 times by other authors, and she has appeared in the news media more than 130 times.

“True leaders in business, in education and in their respective communities, this year’s Distinguished Alumni Award honorees embody The State Way and exemplify the innovation and grit that define Georgia State University,” said Christina Million, associate vice president and executive director of the Georgia State Alumni Association.

Adelphi University Board of Trustees Chair Ronald Lee ’67 said, “I am personally so pleased to see Christine recognized as a distinguished alumna by Georgia State University. We at Adelphi University know that she is the epitome of this honor—of innovation and grit, leadership and commitment to community—as she has brought great growth, bold transformation and rising success to our own institution. On behalf of everyone at Adelphi, I congratulate her.”

GSU’s Distinguished Alumni Awards Dinner and awards ceremony will take place on Friday, October 4, in Atlanta. See more about the honor and event and about President Riordan.