Asheville Native Randall L. Richardson

Randall L. Richardson was elected Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Limestone University in May of 2023, the first African American to hold that position in the university’s nearly 200-year history. He had served for the previous two years as Secretary of the Board of Trustees.

In his professional life, Richardson is the CFO for the Julian F. Keith Alcohol and Drug Abuse Treatment Center in Black Mountain, NC, which is operated by the North Carolina Department of Health & Human Services.

Limestone is an independent, coeducational, non-denominational Christian university campus located in Gaffney, South Carolina. The school offers associate, undergraduate, and master’s degree programs on campus as well as through its online program.

“I am extremely honored to be elected Chair of the Limestone University Board of Trustees,” Richardson said. “I’m thankful to my fellow Board members for trusting me as we work together to make Limestone the very best that it can be. Limestone has been a pioneer in so many ways, beginning with its founding in 1845 as the first institution of higher education for women in South Carolina, and one of the first in the nation.”

In a statement, Richardson noted that “the task at hand isn’t about me, and it’s not about the other members of our Board. It’s about the students from diverse backgrounds we serve, including those who may have found access to higher education difficult. It’s about changing the trajectory of their lives and of the generations who will come after them. What makes this university unique is that we are a community of women and men of different races, religions, geographic origins, socio-economic backgrounds, personal characteristics, and interests.”

A national study conducted in 2020 found that minorities comprised only 20% of board members at private colleges or universities and only 35% at public institutions of higher learning. While that study did not address minority representation among chairs or officers of such boards, it would be presumed that the percentage of minorities serving in such roles is also low.

Richardson is a member of the boards of NC’s Crossnore School and Children’s Homes, and of Carolina Day School in Asheville. He earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Montreat College and a master’s in business administration from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business.

A board-certified Fellow of The American College of Healthcare Executives, Richardson’s career encompasses Healthcare Information Technology, Strategic Planning, and Clinical Operations (Cardiology and Psychiatry), first at Mission Health System in Asheville and then at Honeywell International, where he served as director of the North American Healthcare Vertical Market. He had previously been Vice President of Global Healthcare Solutions for Lanco Global Systems Inc., where he worked in the Middle East, North Africa, and Europe focusing on healthcare clients’ IT strategic initiatives.

Richardson has been on the board of trustees at what was then known as Limestone College since 2013; the institution changed its name to Limestone University in 2020. He has served on the executive, finance, and investment committees and spearheaded the development for the new nursing program at the university.