[1] He was the first to create interdisciplinary masters and doctoral programs in engineering management, with curricula built explicitly on concepts drawn from systems theory and cybernetics.
Notable accomplishments included: Founding Chair of the Department of Engineering Management at Old Dominion University (1984–97);[2][5] founding executive director of the Center for Commercial Space Infrastructure (1992–95), which subsequently morphed into the Virginia Space Flight Center and commercial spaceport on Wallops Island;[5][6][7] Founding Dean of the School of Management and Aviation Science (1997-2004) at Bridgewater State University;[5][8] inaugural Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs (2004–15) and Interim Chancellor (2012–13) at Indiana University East;[5][9][10] and, Interim Vice Chancellor & Dean for the Indiana University – Purdue University Columbus campus (2015–16).
[13] Richards' contributions can be sorted into three areas: (1) his development of constraint theory as an approach to the formulation of policy and technology strategy; (2) his advancement of the concepts associated with cybernetics as representing a new and powerful way of thinking; and (3) his application of cybernetic ideas to the design of a participative-dialogic society.
In his book, Constraint Theory, Richards proposed that, in addressing problems and issues in complex systems involving many participants, desires be treated as constraints rather than as goals or objectives (as they are in traditional operations research problem formulation).
[15] Richards recognized a unique potential in the cybernetic version of systems thinking for addressing complex behavioral and social phenomena.