Richard was raised on a farm near Cheney, Washington and was active in FFA, achieving "State Farmer" level.  He attended WSU and graduated with a BS in Animal Science and an MS in Food Science. Later he went to Cornell University and graduated with a PhD in Food Science and Marketing. Richard started in the food industry with Nestle and then he went to Armour before heading the research at Griffith Labs, Kitchens of Sara Lee, Nalley's/Post foods, and McCain's. Later he joined Unilever in the Netherlands and then he went back to the U.S. to head potato research at Micheal Foods, followed by heading research at Oberto's. From there, Richard joined the faculty at Texas Tech to continue researching shelf-stable meat snacks, tenderizing tough meat, and developing a rapid drying process. During his years in the food industry, Richard has been awarded more than 140 patents on food processes and new food ingredients (e. g. non-calorie oil, low sodium salt replacer).