Richard Powell is Graduate of the United States Naval Academy (B.S.) and Arizona State University (M.S. and Ph.D.). He worked for over 40 years doing research, teaching, and administration of physics in government laboratories and universities.

He served as Director of the Optical Sciences Centre of the University of Arizona and retired as Emeritus Professor and Vice President for Research and Graduate Education at the University of Arizona. He has authored four advanced physics books and over 260 research articles. Powell is Elected Fellow of both the American Physical Society and the Optical Society of America and served as President of OSA. He was Founding Member of the board of directors of the Oklahoma School for Science and Mathematics (a school for gifted high school STEM students). Powell has been elected as Foreign Member of the Russian Academy of Engineering Science.