Rate My Professor Susan Richardson

Susan D. Richardson is the Arthur Sease Williams Professor of Chemistry in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of South Carolina. She earned a B.S. in Chemistry and Mathematics from Georgia College & State University in 1984 and a Ph.D. in Physical Organic Chemistry from Emory University in 1989. Following a postdoctoral appointment at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), she served as a Research Chemist at the EPA's National Exposure Research Laboratory in Athens, Georgia, from 1989 to 2013. Richardson joined the University of South Carolina in 2014, where she teaches courses in analytical chemistry and mass spectrometry. She has mentored 75 undergraduate researchers and 17 graduate students, eight of whom have completed their Ph.D. degrees under her supervision.

Richardson's research specializes in environmental analytical chemistry, focusing on the identification, formation mechanisms, and toxicity of disinfection by-products (DBPs) in drinking water, swimming pools, and potable reuse systems, as well as emerging contaminants including per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), algal toxins, pharmaceuticals, and microplastics. Her interdisciplinary approach integrates advanced analytical techniques such as high-resolution mass spectrometry, GC-MS/MS, LC-MS/MS, Vacuum Assisted Sorbent Extraction (VASE), and total organic fluorine analysis to detect trace-level compounds and assess health risks. Key publications include highly cited works such as "Occurrence, genotoxicity, and carcinogenicity of regulated and emerging disinfection by-products in drinking water: a review and roadmap for research" (Mutation Research, 2007), "Occurrence of a new generation of disinfection by-products" (Environmental Science & Technology, 2006), and the review series "Water analysis: emerging contaminants and current issues" (Analytical Chemistry, 2007, 2009, 2012, 2016). Her contributions have garnered election to the National Academy of Engineering (2024), Fellowship in the American Association for the Advancement of Science (2019) and American Chemical Society (2016), the Herty Medal (2020), Southern Chemist Award (2020), multiple EPA Scientific and Technological Achievement Awards, and the Carolina Trustees Professorship (2025). Richardson has secured over $13.5 million in research funding, delivered more than 70 keynote and plenary lectures, served as Associate Editor for Environmental Science & Technology, and holds editorial roles on journals including Water Research and Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry. Her findings on DBP toxicity drivers, such as haloacetonitriles and iodo-acids, have informed U.S. EPA policy and advanced global water safety standards.