Awards

Bicentennial Medal - 2019

Chancellor and Provost Medallion - 2019

IU Northwest Chancellor's Medallion

Gary, Indiana

President's Medal for Excellence - 2002

IU Southeast Commencement

Indianapolis, Indiana

Presenter: Myles Brand

About F.C. Richardson

F. C. Richardson was professor and chancellor emeritus of Indiana University Southeast. Richardson earned a B.S. from Rust College, Holly Springs, Mississippi; MA. from Atlanta University (now Atlanta Clark University); and Ph.D. from the University of California, Santa Barbara. Richardson served in the U.S. Army where he was honorably discharged in 1963.

Richardson first joined Indiana University in 1967 as assistant professor of botany at IU Northwest, where he worked until 1984. During this time, he rose in rank and responsibilities, becoming associate professor (1971-1982), chair of the department of biology (1971-1972), dean of the College of Arts and Sciences (1972-1984), and professor of botany (1982-1984). Leaving IU for twelve years, he served in the administrations at Jackson State University (1984-1985) and Minnesota State University Moorhead (1985-1989), and as president of Buffalo State College (1989-1996).

Richardson returned to IU in 1996 as professor of biology and chancellor of Indiana University Southeast. Richardson immediately implemented steps to enhance campus communication by establishing an administrative council, made up of all of the vice chancellors, the associate vice chancellor for academic affairs, his executive assistant and the director of equity and diversity, and an executive council, consisting of those officers, faculty senate representatives, academic deans, staff councils and student government representation. He also fostered a period of enrollment growth, including the creation of reciprocity agreements with several counties in Kentucky.

Richardson has served on numerous boards and councils, including the New Albany Rotary Club, the Negro Educational Review, the Southern Indiana Chamber of Commerce, the Lincoln Heritage Council for the Boy Scouts of America, and the DeHaan Family Foundation Project. He has served on the board of trustees of Rust College and the board of directors of Methodist Hospitals of Gary, Indiana. He was a founding president and Executive Steering Committee member (1999-2013) of the Millennium Leadership Initiative within the American Association of State Colleges and Universities, designed to prepare underrepresented minorities and women for college presidencies. Richardson is a senior fellow for the American Association of State Colleges and Universities and the IU President's Medal for Excellence. Richardson received a National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship (1965-1966) and a University Doctoral Fellowship from the University of California (1966-1967).

Richardson received the IU Bicentennial Medal in September 2019 in recognition of his distinguished service as chancellor of Indiana University Southeast.