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Phase II - Donor Gallery - Ed Richards '85
Marooned in Lubbock:
Dr. Ed Richards' Aggie spirit stays strong in Red Raider country
By Rusty Burson
William Richards never attended Texas A&M. But up until his dying days in 1990, the Houston-area native held Aggieland in the highest regard. And he was proud to tell anyone and everyone that all four of his children attended A&M.
So, when one of his children, Dr. Ed Richards, toured the Bright Football Complex and discovered a naming opportunity on one of the offices in Academic Services, Richards knew exactly what he wanted to do.
“Right there, on the spot, I said, ‘I want to name this room and put my father’s name on it,” said Dr. Richards, one of the founding partners of Lubbock-based Gynecological Oncology Assoc. LLP. “He loved A&M, and it was a great opportunity for me to remind the world of my father and what he stood for. I’m sure he would have been pleased.”
Undoubtedly, the late William Richards also would have been delighted to see how well his son his doing professionally. Ed Richards, who earned his undergraduate degree from Texas A&M in 1985, is a highly respected and renowned gynecologist/oncologist, who has private practice, a university practice at Texas Tech Medical School and oversees the operation of his own infusion center.
His professional success has also allowed him to continue giving back to the school that meant so much to his father and siblings. Ed and his wife, Susan, have made major capital campaign contributions to both the football and basketball programs through The Championship Vision.
“A&M helped to shape me,” said Richards, who has three daughters ranging in age from 12 to 17. “I remember my first semester that my dad dropped me off, shook my hand and said, ‘You’re on your own, boy.’ Then he literally drove away. I had all my stuff on the side of the road, and I turned around and a couple of guys on my ramp just started helping me move. From that point forward, it was a ball. A&M became my home. I remember when I would go back to Pasadena to visit as a freshman and Sunday would come around, and I would tell my mom and dad I was ready to go back home.
“So, being in a position to give back is very rewarding. I hope my investments in A&M help to lead to national and conference championship, but that’s certainly not my primary incentive. I invest in A&M to help kids become educated and to help them become successful individuals and quality citizens in their lives after sports. Most of them won’t be professional athletes; they’ll pursue some other professional field. A&M helped put me in a position to succeed, and it’s an honor to be able to help some of today’s students do the same.”
Richards arrived at A&M in 1981 and earned his degree in psychology. But toward the end of his collegiate career, he decided that clinical psychology was not the career path he wanted to follow. He considered going to law school, and he also contemplated a career in coaching.
“I did a lot of soul-searching and ultimately thought sports medicine was something I’d be interested in,” Richards said. “The intellectual challenge of medical school intrigued me. I had a job after I got my undergraduate degree working with the Department of Health and Human Services and met some physicians that were involved in sports medicine and I became interested that way.
“I came to Texas Tech for medical school in 1988 and graduated in 1992, but I never went into sports medicine. I went Scott and White Hospital and did four year of obstetrics and gynecology from 1992-96. Then from 1996-99 I did a gynecologic oncology fellowship at the University of Kentucky in Lexington. When I finished there I came back to Lubbock and have been here since 1999.”
Being an Aggie in Lubbock can sometimes be tough, Richards says. But even after tough losses to Tech, Richards says he holds his head—and his Aggie ring—high.
“I take all kinds of ribbing being in Lubbock,” he said. “Some of it is a little hard to take. But I always remind them that at the end of the day I have a ring from Texas A&M University and they don’t. That usually ends the ribbing.”
ED RICHARDS AT A GLANCE
INTRODUCTION TO A&M: As a junior at Sam Rayburn High School in Pasadena, Richards was leaning toward attending the University of Houston. But he attended a Junior Engineering Technical Society at A&M and fell in love with Aggieland. “My older brother was actually not even going to go to college and I talked him into going to a ballgame at A&M (after I first visited), and he decided to go to Texas A&M, too,” Richards said. “The curb appeal of the campus, the stadium and the people just made it a perfect fit. I never had been anywhere like it before and I knew it’s where I needed to be.”
FAMILY: Met his wife, Susan, while attending A&M. The couple has three daughters: Sarah is 17, Emily is 15 and Madeline is 12.
MOST REWARDING ASPECT OF HIS JOB: “It’s delivering cancer care to patients,” he said. “I love it. I get an opportunity to meet everybody, meet their families, interact with them and share a part of my life with them and vise-versa. It’s a mutually beneficial relationship that I try to establish between myself the patient’s family.”
WHAT LED HIM TO GIVE BACK TO A&M ATHLETICS: “My oldest daughter that is a real competitive swimmer, and I had driven from Lubbock to College Station one weekend because she qualified for a Nike sectional swim meet. She swam early on Friday and a bunch of her friends were going to go to Austin to watch the Big 12 Swimming Championships. I decided to stay back because I hadn’t been to campus in a while. When I left the pool and got in my car and drove over to the Kyle Field parking lot, it was just like when I was a junior in high school again. I had that same spirit come over me. We were coming off tough years in football and basketball, but that Aggie Spirit came over me. Coming back to this campus after being gone for so long can be really awe-inspiring.”
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