Prof Paul E. Richardson

Paul Richardson grew up in Bath, Maine and graduated from Morse High School in 1992.  He graduated in 1996 with a B.S. in Biochemistry from Lebanon Valley College.  After college he worked for Bayer pharmaceuticals testing over the counter drugs (Aspirin, Midol, ect…), after which he went to the University of Southern Maine and got a M.S. in Medical Immunology and Molecular Biology in 1999, his thesis focused on apoptotic factors in murine herpesvirus. For this thesis work he was awarded the outstanding graduate student for the University of Southern Maine.

In 1999 he met his wife, Nicole Marie Paydo while attending the University of Alabama, Birmingham PhD program in biochemistry.  In 2003 he followed his mentor to Georgia Tech and in May he got married to Nicole.   In 2004 Paul finished his PhD thesis (PhD in biochemistry from UAB) that focused on structural modeling of proteins involved in diseases. In 2004 he took an assistant professor position at Coastal Carolina University.  In 2006 Paul and Nicole had their oldest daughter Caroline Evelyn Richardson, who is a published author and aspiring choral director.  In 2009 they had Ella Grace Richardson, a red headed fireball that wants to be a scientist and is a awesome graphic artist.  In 2009 Prof. Richardson was awarded the outstanding researcher in Applied Medical Sciences.  In 2010 he got promoted to associate professor of biochemistry and in 2012 he was awarded the Harry M. Lightsey Jr.Visiting Scholar.  In 2016 he was promoted to Full Professor.  In 2021 he was the recipient of the student engagement award and in 2022 was awarded the outstanding University service award.  During 2015-2020 he was the program director for Coastal Carolina University’s INBRE program and was on the SC INBRE steering committee.  In the Fall of 2020 Dr Richardson took over as Chair of the Department of Chemistry.  Currently, the professor’s research focuses on using nucleic acids to detect viruses in environmental collections and tissue samples.   During the Pandemic he was part of the team that developed a COVID-19 test that was used to monitor the rate of COVID-19 infectious on the campus community.  His emphasis is on undergraduate research and mentoring undergraduate students for professional schools.  He does not mentor graduate level research.

In his spare time Dr Richardson is an avid fisherman, along with his two daughters. Sometimes he even gets his wife to do some fishing with the family.  He is a member of BrookGreen gardens and attends the gardens on a regular basis.  He enjoys playing poker, Trivia, disc golf and the beer den.