Harold and Bette Riker Scholarship

Dr. Riker is one of the few people to have worked at UF for more than 50 years. He was hired as an assistant director of the student union in 1938 after completing his bachelor’s and master’s degrees at UF. Following his service in the U.S. Navy during World War II, he was named director of housing. Later, he joined the faculty in the College of Education after earning his doctoral degree from Columbia University in New York.

As a professor in the counselor education department, Riker developed and taught courses that addressed counseling and other mental health needs of adults and the elderly. He was a driving force in the formation of the Florida Council on Aging and served as a delegate to the White House Conference on Families and the White House Conference on Aging. He retired in 1991 and passed away in 1998.

The scholarship was established through generous gifts from the Riker family and friends in his memor