John Eckel Riley was a Nazarene

minister Minister may refer to: * Minister (Christianity), a Christian cleric ** Minister (Catholic Church) * Minister (government), a member of government who heads a ministry (government department) ** Minister without portfolio, a member of government w ...

and president of the Northwest Nazarene College (NNC) from 1952 to 1973.

Early life and education

John Riley was born to George Duncan Riley and Mary Jane Oliver Riley on January 23, 1909, in

Haverhill, Massachusetts Haverhill ( ) is a city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. Haverhill is located 35 miles north of Boston on the New Hampshire border and about 17 miles from the Atlantic Ocean. The population was 67,787 at the 2020 United States Cen ...

. He received his undergraduate degree from the Eastern Nazarene College in 1930 and his

graduate education Postgraduate or graduate education refers to academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications pursued by post-secondary students who have earned an undergraduate (bachelor's) degree. The organization and struc ...

at Boston University in 1931. He married Dorcas Mine Tarr in 1932. He also received an honorary

doctor of divinity A Doctor of Divinity (D.D. or DDiv; la, Doctor Divinitatis) is the holder of an advanced academic degree in divinity. In the United Kingdom, it is considered an advanced doctoral degree. At the University of Oxford, doctors of divinity are ran ...

from alma mater Eastern Nazarene in 1950.Obituary
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Career in ministry and academia

Riley was the minister of Nazarene churches in Livermore Falls, Maine, New Haven, Connecticut, South Portland, Maine, and Toronto, Ontario. He was minister of the College Church of the Nazarene in Nampa, Idaho from 1944 to 1952, when he was elected as president of Northwest Nazarene College. While president of NNC from 1952 to 1973, Riley led an ambitious academic program to expand and professionalize the Christian liberal arts college. His Campus Plateau 1970 program added a number of new doctorates to the faculty, helped fund several new buildings, and clearly strengthened the college's reputation in the Pacific Northwest. Riley was particularly successful in encouraging Nazarenes of the Northwest to increase their financial support of the regional denominational college. He retired as president in 1973 and became a missionary in Africa,

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, Israel, and

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for five years. He published ''From Sagebrush to Ivy: The Story of NNC 1913-1988'' in 1988 and died in 2001 at the age of 92.

Publications

R and R: Recollections and Reflections. Caldwell, ID: Bible Books. Limited Edition. 1992. From Sagebrush to Ivy: The Story of Northwest Nazarene College: 1913 to 1988 Nampa, Idaho: NNC,1988, 300 pp. The Golden Stairs (Christian Service Training) Beacon Hill Press 1956 This Holy Estate-Guidance in Christian Homemaking: Beacon Hill Press: 1970 Nazarene Theological Dictionary: Contributor Faith and Imagination: Essays on Evangelicals in Literature : 1985, 2012

Legacy

The John E. Riley Library at Northwest Nazarene University is named in his honor.NNU Riley Library
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Notes and references

1909 births 2001 deaths American Nazarene ministers Boston University alumni Eastern Nazarene College alumni Presidents of Northwest Nazarene University 20th-century American clergy 20th-century American academics {{US-Christian-clergy-stub