Dr. Richard Willis Schmude, Jr., was born in Washington D.C., and attended public schools in Cabin John, Maryland; Los Angeles, California; and Houston, Texas. He started his college career at North Harris County College and graduated from Texas A&M University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Chemistry. Later, he obtained a Master of Science degree in Chemistry, a Bachelor of Arts degree in Physics, and a Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry, all from Texas A&M University. He worked at NALCO Chemical Company as a graduate co-op student and at Los Alamos National Laboratory as a graduate research assistant.Since 1994, Richard has taught astronomy, chemistry, and other science classes at Gordon college in Barnesville, Georgia. He is a tenured professor at this college and continue to teach his students (and others) in these area. He has published over 100 scientific papers in many different journals and has given over 500 talks, telescope viewing sessions and workshops to over 25,000 people.