College of Agriculture & Natural Resources

Dr. Kurt Richter is a nationally recognized leader of international development implementation. Over his career he has developed a niche for leading international development projects in complex environments out of Michigan State University. Dr. Richter is an Associate Professor, fixed term, in the Department of Community Sustainability. Dr. Richter is also Director and Principal Investigator for the Innovation Scholars Program and the Grain Research and Innovation programs at Michigan State University. In addition, Dr. Richter is the Deputy Director for the Global Center for Food Systems Innovation (GCFSI). Dr. Richter has over twenty five years of involvement in higher education and international development. Over the course of his career, he has managed over $100 million in USAID funded projects. At GCFSI Dr. Richter is responsible for day-to-day operations, long term strategic planning and serves as a principal point of contact. Dr. Richter has worked in numerous countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America and has held long term leadership roles in Guatemala, Colombia, Afghanistan and the Republic of Georgia. Dr. Richter has worked on Human and Institutional Capacity Development projects in numerous countries including Malawi, Tanzania, Senegal, South Sudan, Uganda, Afghanistan and Tajikistan. As a result, he brings a unique set of experiences and skills to the classroom, such as program implementation, international development theory and practice, proposal writing, financial leadership, project implementation and cross-cultural communication. Dr. Richter holds a B.Sc. and M.Sc. from the University of Missouri - Columbia and Ph.D. from the University of California, Davis. When not answering emails or on zoom, Dr. Richter can be found at home engaged in some sort of project that involves a power tool and requires at least one trip to the hardware store.