Robert D. Richards

Robert Richards is distinguished professor of journalism and law and founding co-director of the Pennsylvania Center for the First Amendment at Penn State.

He has worked as a news writer, anchor, reporter and talk show host for stations in the northeast and for NBC News in New York City. Professor Richards is the co-author of the 2003 book Mass Communications Law in Pennsylvania and is the author of Freedom’s Voice: The Perilous Present and Uncertain Future of the First Amendment (1998) and Uninhibited, Robust, and Wide-Open: Mr. Justice Brennan’s Legacy to the First Amendment (1994), along with more than 130 articles on the First Amendment in the academic and popular press.

He appears frequently in the media commenting on First Amendment issues.

At Penn State, he has served as the head of the journalism department and associate dean of the College of Communications. He created and currently directs the Penn State Washington D.C. Program, along with the Pennsylvania Center for the First Amendment.

In April 2007, Professor Richards received the Scripps Howard Foundation National Journalism Teacher of the Year Award. He was the winner of the 2006 Dean’s Award for Excellence in Integrated Scholarship, the 1998 Dean's Award for Excellence in Research, the 1997 Dean's Award for Excellence in Service, and the 1994 Excellence in Teaching Award from the College of Communications Alumni Society.

He teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in mass communications law, the First Amendment and news media ethics.

Professor Richards also is a Certified Specialist of Wine (CSW) through the Society of Wine Educators. He is a winemaker and has passed the first-level examination of the prestigious Court of Master Sommeliers. He occasionally conducts wine education programs for local organizations and The Smithsonian in Washington, D.C. and is the host/writer of "Demystifying Wine," a regular series airing on WPSU-TV's magazine show "Pennsylvania Inside Out." His forthcoming book, "Wine Savvy: The Art of Buying, Pairing & Sharing American Wine," will be released in 2009.

Robert D. Richards Distinguished Professor of Journalism and Law; Founding Co-Director of Pennsylvania Center for the First Amendment; Director of the Penn State Washington Program

PODCAST: "Defending the First Amendment," from a Research Unplugged presentation at the Penn State Downtown Theatre.