Jim Riley named Friend of the University

The Southeast Missouri University Foundation recently named Jim Riley, founder of Red Letter Communications and community leader, the 2019 Friend of the University, according to a news release.

Riley will be honored with the award as part of the annual President’s Council Dinner at 5:30 p.m. Friday in the River Campus Cultural Arts Center atrium.

“On behalf of the University, I would like to extend my sincere thanks and appreciation to Jim for the heartfelt contributions he has made to this institution for many, many years,” Carlos Vargas-Aburto, university president, said in the release. “He has provided experiential learning opportunities for our students for decades in advertising, public relations, web development, branding and creative strategy. As a member of the Department of Mass Media’s Advisory Board, he has been a tremendous asset in our continued efforts to elevate the quality of our academic programs. We are extremely indebted to Jim for his unwavering support for KRCU, Redhawks Athletics and our scholarship programs.”

Riley earned his Bachelor of Science in mass communication in 1980 and founded Red Letter Communications in 1981 in Cape Girardeau, the release stated.

“My University experience, as much as anything, shaped me in terms of who I am and what I do. I was so very fortunate to find something that I wanted to be a part of, and to have professors who took the time to really teach and who would not settle for mediocrity,” Riley said in the release.

Riley’s entrepreneurial efforts include Mississippi Cape LLC, Shamrock LLC, DreamBig LLC and real estate and business development in Cape Girardeau.

He is the author and partner with local illustrator Don Greenwood in Dogtown Press LLC — Children’s Books with Purpose.

In 2011, with wife Michaele, Riley founded The Taylor Endowment for Excellence in Media Communications, a $100,000 scholarship fund.

That same year, he received the Old Town Cape Visionary Award and the American Advertising Federation Silver Medal for Lifetime Achievement.

Red Letter Communications is a 2003 recipient of the Cape Girardeau Area Chamber of Commerce Small Business of the Year award.

mniederkorn@semissourian.com

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