Richard Riordan

The Honorable Richard Riordan served as the Catholic Education Foundation’s first Board of Trustees President. He championed a Catholic education and firmly believed that every child had a God-given right to a quality education.

Richard, along with CEF, launched the Grant the Dream campaign in 1990, which raised nearly $100 million for the foundation over its four-year run. The campaign’s results were unparalleled by any other archdiocese in the country and created a new standard in the United States for Catholic education.

In 2012, he agreed to chair the $100 million Legacy Campaign. This focused campaign was structured by hosting small gatherings to plant the seed for the next generation of legacy gifts for years to come.

In our Annual Report of that same year, Richard Riordan was quoted as saying, “Every child deserves a quality education. I’ve made a substantial commitment to the Legacy Campaign because our Catholic inner-city schools are providing an essential service to students of poor and marginalized families who have limited options for a quality education. I’m a lifelong believer in the power of a Catholic school education, and that’s why my estate gift will be there to help the generations to come.”