Richard Anderson and his twin brother, John, were born February 17, 1922, in
Hamden, Connecticut. He received a bachelor's degree in mathematics from the
University of Minnesota in 1941, after just two years of study. He went on to graduate school at the
University of Texas at Austin, where he studied under
R. L. Moore. His graduate work was interrupted by
World War II. Two days after the
Japanese attack on
Pearl Harbor, he enlisted in the
United States Navy. During his term in the U. S. Navy, he served on the
USS Rocky Mount. After returning from the war, he finished his doctoral work at the
University of Texas and went on to teach mathematics at the
University of Pennsylvania, where he went through the ranks of instructor, assistant professor, and associate professor (from 1951 to 1956). During this time he also spent two years (the academic years 1951–1952 and 1955–1956) at the
Institute for Advanced Study in
Princeton, New Jersey. He then accepted a post at
Louisiana State University, where he became the university's first Boyd Professor of mathematics. Boyd Professor is Louisiana State University's highest professor rank. == Accomplishments ==