Donald R. Riley Directory Page

Research Interests

Information Technology, High Performance Networking, Research and Education Networking and International Development, Design/Manufacturing, Information Systems Security

Professional Responsibilities and Activities

Dr. Riley is Professor of Information Systems, Department of Decision, Operations and Information Technologies, Robert H. Smith School of Busines,s and Affiliate Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Maryland, College Park. He teaches courses on Business Telecommunications and Data Communications, Competitive Strategy and Public Policy, Information Systems, Decision Tools, and Information Systems Security Management in the Business School, and in the joint Master of Sciences in Telecommunications Systems with Electrical and Computer Engineering.  He is Academic Director of the Graduate Certificate of Professional Studies in Cybersecurity Leadership, a 15-credit collaborative program between the R.H. Smith School, College of Engineering, and School of Public Policy.

He currently serves as I.T. Fellow for the Southeastern University Research Association (SURA), Washington, DC.  He is Chair and CEO of the Internet Educational Equal Access Foundation (IEEAF), working to develop the Research and Education Network of Uganda (RENU). Dr. Riley is founder and co-chair of the annual Chinese American Network Symposium and was recognized in 2000 by the Chinese Academy of Sciences as “Senior Technical Advisor to China Science and Technology Network.”  He is currently co-PI on a three-year grant from the NSF Office of CyberInfrastructure: “Framework Program for US-China Collaboration in Scientific Research and Education.”

He served on the Board of Directors and Senior Advisor for International Connectivity of the Multi-Sector Crisis Management Consortium, Washington, D.C.  He was Member, U.S. Delegation, United Nations World Summit on the Information Society, Tunis, Tunisia, Nov. 2005.  At the request of the National Academy of Sciences, Dr. Riley co-chaired the Task Group on Digital Knowledge Infrastructure in Developing Countries, under the InterAcademy Panel on International Issues, 2008-2010.

Dr. Riley was one of the founding members of the national Internet2 initiative, served on the Network Planning and Policy Advisory Council (NPPAC); EDUCAUSE Board of Trustees (1998-2001, inaugural chair); founding member of EDUCAUSE National Learning Infrastructure Initiative and past member of Steering Committee; co-chaired the launch of the EDUCAUSE Task Force on Systems Security. He also served on the National LambdaRail board of directors.  Dr. Riley was a founding principal in the Mid-Atlantic Crossroads (MAX) regional networking consortium, one of the largest Internet2 regional gigapops, which hosts the NGIX-DC (Next Generation Internet Exchange) for the federal agency NGI R&D networks at the University of Maryland. He was co-PI on the NSF-funded DRAGON project (Dynamic Resource Allocation on GPLS-enabled Optical Networks), 2004-2009.

He also served on the State of Maryland Task Force on High Speed Network Infrastructure and the E-commerce Committee of the State I.T. Board, and on the Coordinating Council for International Research Networks (CCIRN). He also serves on the External Advisory Board of CTIS Inc. and the Advisory Board of Isocore Inc.

From 1998 to 2003, Dr. Riley served as Vice President and Chief Information Officer (CIO) and member of the President’s Cabinet at the University of Maryland College Park, charged with overseeing information technology planning and coordination, and the central I.T. infrastructure:  all major central computing, telecommunications and networking infrastructure and services, including academic, student and administrative computer services and instructional technology, with an annual operating budget of over $30 million. 

Prior to coming to the University of Maryland, Dr. Riley was the first CIO at the University of Minnesota (1992-1998), and was on the faculty of the University of Minnesota Mechanical Engineering Department from 1976 to 1998.  He founded the Computer Graphics and Computer Aided Design Lab, and co-founded the Productivity Center, acting as Associate Director.  Research and teaching interests included applications of interactive computer graphics to CAD-CAM; knowledge-based systems for design and manufacturing; computer-aided mechanism analysis and design; application of CAD/CAM techniques to biomechanical and bioengineering problems; and product development process.

Dr. Riley is an ASME Lifetime Fellow, and participated in the founding and leadership of the Computers in Engineering Division of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and was 1990-91 Chair of its Executive Committee; numerous seminars, invited lectures and presentations, panel sessions, short courses and tutorials at the local, national, and international level.  He has published over 100 refereed technical papers and several copyrighted software packages for computer aided design; he has graduated 27 M.S. and 13 Ph.D. students; he has been responsible as principal or co-principal investigator for over $20 million in grants.  Most recently, he was co-PI at the University of Maryland on the NSF-funded DRAGON project (Dynamic Resource Allocation on GPLS-enabled Optical Networks), from 2003-2008.

Selected Publications

"Computer Aided Process Planning for Turned Parts Using Fundamental and Heuristic Principles." Journal of Engineering for Industry, vol. 114, pp. 31-40, Feb. 1992 (with U.P Korde, B.C. Bora, and K.A. Stelson).

"Application of Beams on Elastic Foundation and B-spline Solution Methodologies to Parametric Analysis of Intramedullary Implant Systems." Journal of Biomechanics, vol. 24, no. 6, pp. 441-448, 1991 (with J.E. Bechtold).

"CAD/CAM for Dental Restorations -- Some of the Curious Challenges." IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering, Special Issue on Biomedical Engineering in Dentistry, vol. 38, no. 4, pp. 314-318, April 1991 (with E.D. Rekow, A.G. Erdman, and B. Klamecki).

"Topological Analysis of Single-Degree-of-Freedom Planetary Gear Trains." Journal of Mechanical Design, Transactions of ASME, vol. 113, no. 1, pp. 10-16, March 1991.

"A Network-Based Expert System for Intelligent Design of Mechanisms." Journal of Artificial Intelligence for Engineering Design, Analysis, and Manufacturing, vol. 2, no. 1, pp. 17-32, 1988 (with S. Kota, A.G. Erdman, A. Esterline, and J. Slagle).