Henry Caselli (H. C.) Richards (16 December 1884 – 13 June 1947), was an Australian professor of geology, academic and teacher.

[1] He went to work for De Bavay and Company in Broken Hill, and then took up a position as a scholar and demonstrator at the University of Melbourne.

In 1910, Richards took up a position teaching in the Chemistry, Geology and Mining Department of the Central Technical College (CTC), in the Government House Domain of George Street, Brisbane (forerunner of Queensland Institute of Technology).

Richards would be a dynamic force for the Geology Department, the Faculty of Science and the University during its early years.

In 1946, Richards was professor of geology, deputy chancellor of the university, chairman of trustees of the National Art Gallery, president of the Art Galleries and Museums Association of Australia and New Zealand, chairman of the Great Barrier Reef Committee and many others.

His wife would be a chaperone for the female students, on many camps and dances held at the fledgling university.

[5] In 1922 he founded, along with Queensland governor Sir Matthew Nathan, the Great Barrier Reef Committee.

[6] The committee's public relations ventures, in order to bring in more money for their research programmes, would also lead to a number of biological expeditions to the Reef, including the year-long Low Isles Great Barrier Reef Expedition of 1928.

[7] This expedition brought in many biologists and geographers from around the world, and led to publication of research at the British Natural History Museum.

This enabled him to travel to the International Geology Conference in South Africa, as a representative of the Australian and Queensland governments.

This enabled him to take an extended trip overseas to visit the Carnegie Institute in Washington, D.C., and the Seismology Laboratory in Pasadena, California (Caltech).

This visit led to a Commonwealth Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) grant to obtain a second Milne-Shaw seismograph for the university, following the 1935 earthquake in Gayndah, Queensland.

[8] Richards would be appointed to the board of trustees of the Queensland Art Gallery in 1938, and became president of the same in 1945 until his death in 1947.

He was celebrated for his energy and industriousness, popularity with students and ability to foster cooperation between the University and the Queensland government.

[1] Following his death, the new Geology Department building, which he had toiled over to establish at the new campus of St Lucia, was named in his honour.

The H. C. Richards Memorial Prize was established in geology, in acknowledgement of his contribution to the University of Queensland.