Todd Richmond

Education

• Ph.D. in chemistry, Caltech; B.A. in chemistry, University of San Diego

Todd Richmond is the director of the Tech & Narrative Lab and a professor at the Pardee RAND Graduate School. Richmond is also a musician, visual artist, and self-described "conceptual troublemaker." Early in his career as a chemistry professor at The Claremont Colleges, he incorporated multimedia and web technologies into his teaching and research. That work led him to evolve from his specific focus on chemistry to instead pursue a broader understanding of technology and content, moving to USC.

At USC's Institute for Creative Technologies, Richmond led the Mixed Reality Lab and Advanced Prototypes group and has worked in a variety of areas: emerging disruptive technologies for training, learning, and operations; future environments for communication and collaboration; immersive technologies; interactive education; visualization and analytics. He has taught in the USC Marshall School of Business and USC School of Cinematic Arts.

Richmond increasingly broadened his scope of interest and expertise, particularly around the unintended consequences of technology. His “applications and implications” mantra led him to move into the public policy realm at Pardee RAND Graduate School.

Richmond earned a B.A. in chemistry from the University of San Diego and a Ph.D. in chemistry from Caltech, followed by a postdoctoral fellowship in protein engineering at U.C. San Francisco. He has also studied with Grammy-winning bassist Victor Wooten and performs regularly with a number of different ensembles.