JIM RIORDAN was named Director of the MBA in Sport Management program at Florida Atlantic University on July 1st, 2000. Prior to coming to South Florida, Riordan was Director of the Masters of Science in Sport Administration program at Canisius College in Buffalo, NY. During his five year tenure in Western NY, Riordan placed over 80 percent of over 60 graduates in full-time positions in the sports and entertainment industry. The Atlanta Braves, IMG, Octagon Sports Marketing, Tampa Bay Lightning, Walt Disney?s Wide World of Sports, New York Rangers, New York Jets, Philadelphia Flyers, University of Houston, Buffalo Bills, Buffalo Sabres, the NCAA and Corinthian Soccer Club of Brazil are just a few of the organizations that hired one Riordan?s former Canisius students. Riordan?s five- year placement record at FAU is close to 90 percent. The Miami Dolphins, Miami Heat, University of Miami, Florida Panthers, Radford University, Jacksonville University, Florida Marlins, USOC, Toronto Maple Leafs, the LPGA, Conference-USA South Florida PGA, the ACC, and Iowa State University are some of the organizations that have hired FAU MBASport students under his watch.

Before coming to Canisius College, Riordan served as Director of Training and Quality Control for the New York Mets, as well as assisting in the management of Shea Stadium. Between 1980 and 1983, Riordan served as an Assistant Director of Stadium Operations for the West Side Tennis Club (Forest Hills, NY) and the National Tennis Center (Flushing Meadow, NY) the former and current home of the US OPEN TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIPS. In August of 1983, he was named Director of Security and Event Services for what is now known as the Wachovia Spectrum (Philadelphia). At 22, Riordan became the youngest individual in a major market to hold such a position.

In addition to his Spectrum duties, Riordan served as Director of Security for the Philadelphia Flyers of the NHL and assisted in the planning and implementation of crowd management operations for major outdoor concerts that included the Grateful Dead, Bruce Springsteen, Beach Boys, and the LiveAid benefit concert held in 1985. Other major events that he has performed similar duties for include the 1987 Stanley Cup Finals, official visits to Philadelphia by Hillary Clinton and Nelson Mandela; to Richmond (VA) by Margaret Thatcher, to New York City by Pope John Paul II.

After a brief stint as an Investigator for the New York Racing Association at Belmont Park and Saratoga Race Course, Riordan returned to the Spectacor Group and went to work for Spectacor Management Group (SMG). At SMG between 1989 and 1994, Riordan served as Manager of Event Services at Long Island?s Nassau Coliseum, as Director of Operations for the Richmond (VA) Coliseum and Mosque Theater, and as Director of Operations for the Philadelphia Civic Center. Riordan also served as Coordinator and Facilitator of SMG?s Annual Operations Meetings.

In 1996, Riordan was hired by the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games to serve as Sector Coordinator for the Olympic soccer medal-round site, Sanford Stadium at the University of Georgia, in Athens. In 1999, he was retained by Contemporary Services Corporation (CSC) as a crowd management and event operations consultant for Super Bowl XXXIII in Miami and for XXXIV in Atlanta. In Atlanta, he trained and orientated over 700 new CSC employees that worked the Super Bowl and associated activities. Other projects Riordan has worked on for CSC include the Denver Broncos/Mile High Stadium and the Tennessee Titans/Adelphia Coliseum.

In 1999, the Convention and Visitors Bureau of the City of Buffalo conferred upon him the title of "Ambassador". This honor is bestowed on those who have worked on bringing major, outside meetings and conventions to Buffalo. Riordan, on behalf of Canisius College, hosted the 1998 International Conference of the North American Society for Sport Management.

Riordan has served two terms as Vice Chair of the Stadiums Committee for the International Association of Assembly Managers (IAAM) and one term as Chair of the Stadium Committee and served on the IAAM Board of Directors. Riordan was also a member of the 1998 IAAM- appointed task force on developing a unified crowd management curriculum to be used to train crowd management facilitators in public assembly venues. In 2004, he served as Host Committee Chair for the IAAM District V Meeting in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida

As a member of the IAAM's Universities Committee, he moderated a panel session at the 1999 Annual Conference in Toronto on developing a curriculum in public assembly facility management for colleges and universities. He has authored articles on facility and crowd management for publications such as Journal of Crowd Management, Facility Manager and the Journal of Sport Management. In 2004, he wrote a textbook chapter on ?Sports as a Leisure Experience? and has served as an expert commentator on sport, entertainment, stadium/arena and crowd management issues for The Sports Business Journal, Athletic Business, South-Florida-Sun Sentinel, Miami Herald, BusinessFirst, Tampa Tribune and WMAQ-AM (Miami) and ESPN?s Outside the Lines Nightly.

Riordan served as a member of the Sport Management Program Review Council for the North American Society for Sport Management, the acknowledged accrediting body for collegiate sport administration programs. He has served as a member of the Advisory Board of the Palm Beach Sports Commission, as well as a member of its Grants and Membership Committees. Riordan has served as a member of the Advisory Board of the West Palm Beach Junior Achievement BASE (Building Achievement Through Sports and Entertainment). In 2003, he served as a special consultant to the chair of the FAU Director of Athletics search committee. In 2004, he was named a member of FAU?s Athletic Advisory Board, FAU?s Department of Athletics NCAA Self-Study Re-Certification and FAU?s Strategic Planning ?Building World Class Academic and Research Programs? sub-committee. Currently he is serving on the committee that is reviewing the feasibility of an indoor multi-purpose sports facility on the FAU main campus and is also serving as the Faculty Athletic Representative for Florida Atlantic University. He is also chair of FAU?s Athletic Advisory Board. In 2006, Riordan was named a member of the National Advisory Board of the University of Washington?s Executive Education Masters degree program in Intercollegiate Athletics Management. He is a peer-reviewer for the NCAA Self-Study/Re-certification program.

Riordan, 45, holds a BS and MBA from Saint John?s University in New York and has completed doctoral work at Temple University in Philadelphia. He is currently pursuing a PhD in Higher Education Leadership at Florida Atlantic University and is a member of the national academic honor society of Phi Kappa Phi.