Colleagues and students knew Edward H. Risley, MD, the namesake of Risley Hall, fourth Dean of the Loma Linda College of Medical Evangelists (CME), as a man who had a kind heart and a simple faith. He was dean at the time of his death on February 7, 1943. His colleagues were mindful of his deep sincerity, a man who was strictly honest, had abundant sympathy, was humble, unassuming, and a lover of all, young and old. Dr. Risley was always thoughtful and considerate of the opinions and views of his associates. His life was truly a ministry.
Ed Risley was the youngest student ever to enroll in the American Medical Missionary College in Battle Creek, Michigan, from which he graduated in 1904. Because he had an enviable scholastic record, administrators at AMMC immediately invited him to join their faculty and the Battle Creek Sanitarium invited him to join its medical staff. Following postgraduate studies at Yale University, University of Chicago, and the University of Michigan, he became head of the AMMC Department of Chemistry, a position he held until 1910 when it closed, at which time he and Mrs. Risley came to California.
In those days it was not unusual for a physician to supplement his medical education by enrolling as a student in the senior year of another school. Shortly after his arrival in Southern California, Dr. Risley entered the senior year at the UCLA School of Medicine, from which he received a second medical diploma in 1911.
Because the College of Medical Evangelists needed faculty members with character and Dr. Risley’s ability, he was invited to connect with CME during the 1911-1912 school year. Because of illness in Mrs. Risley’s family, the couple returned to Battle Creek. During the next fifteen months, until the fall of 1913, Dr. Risley established and conducted the first chemical research laboratory in the W. K. Kellogg Food Company and launched an active research program for John Harvey Kellogg, MD, at the Battle Creek Sanitarium.
In the fall of 1913, CME persuaded the Risleys to return to Loma Linda where he resumed his teaching duties as Professor of Chemistry and Materia Medica. During his career he became Dean of the Loma Linda Division, president of the College, and Dean of the Los Angeles Division. In 1922, Dr. Risley’s enthusiastic interest in dietetics helped motivate the start of CME’s Dietitians’ Training School. In addition to serving as its dean, in 1935 he became Dean of the College of Medical Evangelists (forerunner of Loma Linda University School of Medicine), a position he held until his death in 1943.
Dr. Risley was active in the professional community. He served on the boards of trustees of the College of Medical Evangelists, the Southeastern California Conference, the Pacific Union Conference, La Sierra College, the Board of Regents of the Educational Department of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, and the board of directors of the Loma Linda Food Company. He also became a member of the San Bernardino County Medical Society, the California, and the American Medical Associations, and the American Chemical Society.
Dr. Risley was ordained to the gospel ministry in 1927. He was known to be serious minded, strictly honest, and a firm believer in the witness of a consistent Christian life. Although strictly self-disciplined, he had a tender heart, was unselfish and sympathetic. He especially was a friend of students. Whenever he knew of any student’s struggles, he remembered that student by name in family worship both morning and evening.
Dr. Risley co-authored three books: The Food Question, Foods, Nutrition and Clinical Dietetics, and Home Physician and Guide to Health.
According to Newton G. Evans, MD, Dr. Risley displayed “a peculiarly happy blending of superior intellectual capacity with a genuine religious fervor. . . . To him is due a large measure of the credit for the growth and material and spiritual up-building of the school and the Loma Linda community.” He served CME unselfishly at great personal sacrifice.
Following his death, John Harvey Kellogg, MD, wrote from the Battle Creek Sanitarium to Loma Linda, “Dr. Risley’s death is an irreparable loss to Loma Linda. He was an unusually gifted and noble type of man with a clear intellect and keen perception, unselfish, sympathetic, and a genial loyal friend. I never expect to meet his equal again.”