same

same

April 14, 2022

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Ut mollis sapien a dignissim malesuada. Nunc feugiat lectus sed blandit mollis. Aenean nec risus at orci accumsan cursus. Quisque in felis vel velit lobortis imperdiet. Sed eleifend tellus sit amet ipsum dapibus, ut cursus enim aliquet. Suspendisse tincidunt volutpat erat id molestie. Vestibulum enim dolor, hendrerit id libero ac, ullamcorper malesuada sapien. In in aliquam felis. Curabitur eu ultricies lorem, id efficitur diam. Aliquam vulputate dignissim nibh, at gravida diam interdum at. Sed iaculis porttitor ultrices. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit.

In in justo non nunc pellentesque interdum. Nunc ultrices tincidunt risus vel commodo. In fringilla odio dui, id laoreet velit ultricies in. Nullam sit amet ultricies leo. Pellentesque habitant morbi tristique senectus et netus et malesuada fames ac turpis egestas. Nullam cursus dapibus ex, eu gravida mauris egestas eget. Aliquam hendrerit nisl non felis condimentum faucibus. Sed pharetra fringilla tellus, nec ultricies tortor viverra sit amet. Sed in fringilla urna. Phasellus eget ipsum in felis lobortis pharetra. Nam mattis non sapien sit amet aliquam. Ut fringilla rutrum mauris, a aliquam lorem porttitor quis.

Request Aggieland's Ultimate Estate Planning Kit

Planning for your financial future is one of the most important things you can do. Use our complimentary resource, Aggieland’s Ultimate Estate Planning Kit, as a step-by-step guide to build your plans and explore ways you can create a brighter future for Aggieland.

“A professor called me up after class at the end of a semester and said, ‘I really think you're too weird for engineering. Your solutions are unconventional. You need to try architecture,’” Riggs said. “I was named after my Aggie uncle [Robert Sims ’44] who served in World War II. I thought my short hair and conservative dress would stand out because in those days, the only places you saw anyone with long hair were architecture and philosophy.”  

The professor was right: Riggs changed his major and thrived in design studios. “Although I never practiced the profession, the studio learning environment grounded me in design thinking and the creative process,” wrote Riggs in a recent short piece about reinventing yourself. “Critical thinking skills helped me navigate my way through diverse careers as a congressional committee investigator, presidential campaign operative, broadcast journalist and finally, a digital media strategist and producer.”  

Riggs was elected to the Student Senate from the College of Architecture. He served as the chairman of the Contemporary Arts Committee in the Memorial Student Center, a student organization responsible for bringing culturally relevant topics, people and art to Aggieland. During his time as an architecture student, Riggs was “bit with a political bug.” 

Though he would graduate with a degree in environmental design, Riggs knew he wanted to be involved with politics upon his departure from Aggieland. Professors such as Rodney Hill and Alan Stacell mentored and encouraged Riggs to pursue his passions. Stacell gave Riggs a camera and encouraged him to start making films for class credit. This early experience in filmmaking would serve him well once he found his way to a newsroom.  

Request Your Giving Guide  

There are many ways to create a brighter future for Texas A&M University, including a meaningful gift to support your Aggie passions. Explore our complimentary Giving Guide to find the best fit for you!

Download your free guide 

Get your copy today!

Pivot to Podcasting  

Never one to stay idle, Riggs continues to create new projects, podcasts and television programs. One current project is the podcast “True Crime Reporter,” hosted by Riggs and former federal prosecutor Bill Johnston. The duo uses four decades of field experience to pry into stories of murder and mystery, many of which happened right here in Texas.  

“My interest in true crime was influenced by my late father, Stanley Riggs. He was a small businessman in Paris, Texas, and served as police commissioner,” Riggs shared. “When I was in high school, you could find an FBI Agent, Texas Ranger, State Trooper, the Sheriff and assorted police officers gathered at our kitchen table on Friday nights drinking coffee. During holiday breaks from Texas A&M, I would ride on patrol with local troopers so they had a backup in the event of trouble.” 

True Crime Reporter’s first season focused on notorious Texan serial killer Kenneth McDuff and is now being made into a documentary series. Riggs currently serves as the show’s executive producer and sees new production opportunities for true crime television on the horizon for himself and his team.  

His earlier pivot into audio-only storytelling has proven a worthwhile endeavor. “People would tell me I had a voice for radio,” he said. As a Texan who has been on-air for much of his life, his voice is uniquely suited for weaving tales of true crime. His show was even featured on the first-ever live remote broadcast on Fireside Chat, a social audio platform co-founded by media mogul Mark Cuban and noted tech entrepreneur Falon Fatemi. 

Throughout the changes in his career, Riggs’ chameleon-like adaptability has stayed an odd constant. Whether it was in a design studio as a college student or captivating listeners with a story over the airwaves, creativity is at the heart of all Riggs does. From a teenager fresh out of Paris, Texas, to a successful reporter at the height of his career, Riggs has been guided by truth, justice and the power of a good story. 

sdfghjk

Renaissance man Robert Riggs ’71 has spent a lifetime trying on new titles. Writer, podcaster, investigator, political correspondent and horse whisperer all fit him well, but no description fits quite like “storyteller.” 

Riggs learned the art of storytelling from a young age. As a child, he would sit on his great-uncle's screened-in porch at a ranch on a lake in East Texas and listen to him tell tales.  

“I loved when he would spin these yarns,” Riggs recalled. “He had packs of beagles, each of them named. At night, you would hear the beagles barking in the distance, on the chase of a raccoon or something. My great-uncle would narrate what was happening: ‘Now Old Red’s taking the lead. They just turned around that tree down in the pasture.’ He’d weave a vivid story for us. I just remember sitting there spellbound.” 

That fascination with tales never faded. A winding path through architecture, politics and journalism eventually brought Riggs to true crime podcasting—a modern take on the campfire story in the dark.  

Arrival in Aggieland 

When Riggs came to College Station in 1967, it was the farthest he had ever been from his home in Paris, Texas. During the next five years, he bounced around campus, trying on new futures in liberal arts, engineering and construction science before finding his way to the College of Architecture.  

 

Tagged with:

Make Your Impact

Give Now