Rich earned his BA, MA, and PhD from UC Santa Barbara. He taught in the Gentrain Program its first year of existence, in the spring of 1973. Rich was the history instructor for Gentrain until 1983 when the duty of running the American Studies Program and being the only history professor became overwhelming. He was part of the famous luncheon in Washington D.C. where the idea for the Gentrain Society evolved as Rich, Grant, Alison, and Rick talked about the possibility of a society dedicated to lifelong learning that would accompany and support the academic program.

Rich is an accomplished historian and teacher. He wrote a text that was widely used in college classrooms entitled American History Major Controversies Reviewed. In addition to chairing the History Department at MPC, Rich has served as a Senior Program Coordinator at the Panetta Institute where he coordinates the Congressional Intern Program and the Student Leadership Development Program, as well as teaching a Master’s course.

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