In 1986 he obtained his PhD in communication at Erasmus University Rotterdam for the doctoral dissertation entitled "Overheidsvoorlichting en Intermediaire kaders" (Government Information and Intermediary Staff).
He was founding father of the Master of Science in Corporate Communication[4] (MSc degree programme) at Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University.
The article "The Impact of Employee Communication and Perceived External Prestige on Organizational Identification" with co-authors Ale Smidts and Ad Th.H.
[8] In 2011 Van Riel received the 2011 Pathfinder Award, the highest academic honor bestowed by the Institute for Public Relations (IPR)[9] for his contribution to research in the field of corporate reputation and strategic alignment.
[11] The RepTrak Model is a tool that tracks 23 key performance indicators grouped around 7 reputation dimensions that research has proven to be effective in getting stakeholders to support the company.