Oliver G. "Rick" Richard, III (born 1952) is an American businessman. He is currently the
president of
Empire of the Seed, a Louisianan
consulting firm, and
chairman
The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...
of
CleanFuel USA. He achieved national prominence for his work in the changing
northeast
The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...
energy sector.
He was chairman, president and
chief executive of the
Fortune 500
The ''Fortune'' 500 is an annual list compiled and published by ''Fortune'' magazine that ranks 500 of the largest United States corporations by total revenue for their respective fiscal years. The list includes publicly held companies, along ...
company
Columbia Energy Group; chairman, president and chief executive of the
Fortune 1000 company
New Jersey Resources; president and chief executive of
Northern Natural Gas Pipeline; and
vice president of
Tenngasco.
He served on the
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) is the United States federal agency that regulates the transmission and wholesale sale of electricity and natural gas in interstate commerce and regulates the transportation of oil by pipeline in ...
as a commissioner from 1982 to 1985.
Early life
Richard was born (1952) and raised in Lake Charles, Louisiana. He married Donna Guzman July 6, 1974. They have one son.
Education
Richard earned a Bachelor of Arts in journalism from Louisiana State University in 1974.
He went on to earn a Juris Doctor from the Paul M. Hebert Law Center in 1977, and a Master of Law in taxation from Georgetown University in 1981.
He was awarded the LSU Foundation's President's Award in 2003.
[
]
Career
Richard was made CEO of the Herndon, Virginia, Herndon-based Columbia Energy Group in April 1995. He ran the company until its merger with NiSource in November 2000.
References
Living people
1952 births
Louisiana State University alumni
20th-century American businesspeople
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