Smeal College Of Business Administration Names Alumni Fellow
Oct. 4, 2000
University Park, Pa--Richard H. Bard, founder and manager of IdeaSpring, LCC in Denver, Colorado, has been named an Alumni Fellow by The Smeal College of Business Administration at Penn State.

The Alumni Fellow program was conceived in 1973 by the Penn State Alumni Association to honor prominent and outstanding alumni who are leaders in their fields and who have made notable contributions to society and their communities. Bard received his bachelorís degree in 1969 from Penn State.

He will receive his award at a special ceremony, which takes place Thursday, October 12, in the Nittany Lion Inn at the University.

Throughout his career, Bard has maintained an active interest in education, health care and the arts. In 1987, he established the Irene and Irving Bard Professorship in Marketing at Penn State. Bard is a member of The Smeal College Board of Visitors, and a founding member of the University's National Development Council. He served as regional chair of the National Campaign Committee during the first University campaign. Bard is a member of the Mount Nittany Society and a founding contributor to the Bryce Jordan Center.In 1997, through the Bard Family Foundation, the Bards endowed the Center for Entrepreneurship Development at the University of Colorado at Denver (UCD). He chairs the board of advisors at College of Business at UCD and is a founding member of UCD's Institute for International Business.

He has served as director of the Denver Symphony Orchestra; the Bravo! Colorado music festival at Vail; the Children's Museum of Denver; and, he is a national trustee and a former board member of the National Jewish Hospital. Bard is a founding member of the Economics Club of Denver, a member of the University Club in Denver, and a past member of the Young President's Organization. He has served as an independent corporate director for Polymedia Corporation (AMEX-PM), National Intergroup (formerly NYSE) and numerous private companies.

Bard's business background includes founding and participating in the senior management of three former NYSE companies, namely FoxMeyer Corporation (pharmaceutical distributor and drug store franchiser), ComputerLand Corporation, and Coast America Corporation (Coast-to-Coast hardware store operator and franchiser). Until January 2000 he was the founder and CEO of NASDAQ-based Optical Security Group, Inc. (now merged with Applied Optical Plc, LSE: APH), which is involved in authenticating and anti-counterfeiting technologies and products for documents and branded products. He has recently formed IdeaSpring, LCC to make investments in and support early stage e-commerce companies.

He received his M.B.A. in Finance from the Bernard M. Baruch College at the City University of New York. He and his wife, Pamela, are the parents of five children and reside in Evergreen, Colorado.