Home of the Suns

The first Virgin Islander to occupy the post of the president of the University of the Virgin Islands, Arthur A. Richards was inaugurated on March 16, 1981.  The Honorable Ralph M. Paiewonsky, Chairman of the Board Trustees and former Governor of the Virgin Islands, officiated at the investiture. 

 

Born in Frederiksted, St. Croix on September 8, 1924, Arthur Alexander Richards is the son of Claude J. and Evelyn DuBois Richards.  A product of the local elementary and secondary schools, he later entered Howard University in Washington, DC, where he earned his bachelor’s degree in 1949.  Returning to the Virgin Islands, he accepted a teaching position at Frederiksted Junior High for one year, and then moved to Christiansted Junior High and taught for one year, 1950-51. He was appointed principal of Frederiksted Elementary School and served in this position for seven years, 1951-1958.  From 1958 – 1960, he was principal of Christiansted Junior High School.

 

On April 2, 1955, he married Myrna V. Todmann of Frederiksted, daughter of Milton and Iris Todmann.

 

In 1961, he earned his master’s degree from Hampton Institute, Hampton, Virginia.  His thesis, Public Education on St. Croix, US. Virgin Islands since the Implementation of the 1954 Organic Act, is an important history of education in the territory. Following a term of Deputy and Commissioner of Education for the Virgin Islands Department of Education, 1960-1963, he became Assistant Commissioner of Education, 1963-1966.  He continued his studies, which included various institutes, seminars, and a concentrated effort to obtain his doctorate in education.  His learning experience included a 1962 Institute in Comparative Education in Italy and the Netherlands, Seminars of Management, Labor Relations, the Behavioral Sciences, and Computer Technology.  In 1965, he obtained an Ed.D in Educational Administration and Supervision from New York University.  His dissertation entitled, The Development of a Linear Program and Instructional Unit in the Theory of Decision Making and Evaluation of its Usefulness as a Teaching Device.

 

Shortly, thereafter, he was named Commissioner of Education for the Virgin Islands.  In 1969, he resigned from the Department of Education to accept the position of provost and dean of the College of the Virgin Islands, now a university.  In this capacity, he often served as acting president.  He was appointed president of the university by the Board of Institutes in 1980 and retired in 1990. He has served on various boards and commissions which included, among others, the Virgin Islands Council of the Arts, the Virgin Islands Advisory Council on Vocational and Technical Education, the National League for Nursing Ad Hoc Committee on Review and Revision of the Criteria for Accreditation, the Virgin Islands Rural Affairs Council, the Virgin Islands Health Coordinating Council, and the Department of Education Task Force for Higher Education.

 

He is also a member of the Phi Delta Kappa, Kappa Delta Pi, and the American Association of School Administrators.

 

On July 20, 1977, the Virgin Islands Legislature honored Dr. Richards for his outstanding career as a Virgin Islands educator by naming a school at Estate Stoney Ground on St. Croix as the Arthur A. Richards Junior High School. Resolution 897 also commended and congratulated him for his many accomplishments and contributions to the community.

 

An ardent traveler, he has visited several European countries, South America, Central America, the United Stated States, and the Caribbean. 

He and his wife Myrna are the parents of three children, Anthony, Pamela, and Duane.