C. Richard Cassady

C. Richard Cassady, PhD, is a Professor in the Department of Industrial Engineering at the University of Arkansas, College of Engineering. He has been a faculty member since 2000 and previously served at Mississippi State University from 1996-2000. Dr. Cassady earned his BS, MS, and PhD in Industrial and Systems Engineering from Virginia Tech.

• Education:
  • BS in Industrial Engineering (summa cum laude), Virginia Tech
  • MS in Industrial Engineering, Virginia Tech
  • PhD in Industrial Engineering, Virginia Tech

Dr. Cassady’s research focuses on applying probability, simulation, and optimization to reliability engineering, maintenance planning, quality control, and strategic decision-making in sports. His teaching interests include industrial engineering capstone projects, probability theory, stochastic processes, and technical communication.

Notable honors include the 2016 Albert G. Holzman Distinguished Educator Award, Fellowships in IISE and the Society of Reliability Engineers, and multiple teaching awards. He founded the University of Arkansas First-Year Engineering Program (FEP), which improved retention and graduation rates by 10-15% since its 2007 implementation.

• Robotics Leadership:
  • Co-founder and coach of Root Negative One, an FTC team with multiple state and international championships
  • Co-founder and coach of YoungLings, an FLL team with four consecutive Arkansas titles
  • Program Delivery Partner for FIRST Tech Challenge in Arkansas