Richard, a senior adviser to The Terry Group, is a leading authority on the aging of the population and has written extensively on the demographics and economics of retirement and health-care policy in the United States and around the world. He is the president of Global Aging Associates, a consultancy that provides research, advisory, and speaking services on strategic issues related to the aging of the population. He is also the president and founder of the Global Aging Institute, a nonprofit research and educational organization dedicated to raising awareness of the global aging challenge and to encouraging timely reform.

From 2003 to 2013, Richard was a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), where he directed a research program on global aging. From 1993 to 2002, he worked as an independent researcher, writer, and consultant on a wide range of policy issues related to demographic and economic change. From 1988 to 1992, he was a research fellow at the Hudson Institute, where he contributed to the path-breaking Workforce 2000 Project.

Richard is the author or co-author of numerous policy studies, including Asian Provident Funds: Meeting Tomorrow’s Challenges (2021); Voluntary Pensions in Emerging Markets (2017); Lessons from Abroad for the U.S. Entitlement Debate (2014); The Global Aging Preparedness Index (2010 and 2013); Global Aging and the Future of Emerging Markets (2011); and The Graying of the Great Powers: Demography and Geopolitics in the 21st Century (2008). Richard regularly speaks on aging-related issues and is widely quoted in the national and international media. He holds a PhD in history from Yale University.