It was the summer of 1988. On the 6th floor of a long demolished Simmons Hall at the Mississippi University for Women, 12 individuals met to discuss the founding and the future of what would become the fourth residential math and science school in the nation. Johnny Franklin sat at the head of the table as the group discussed what textbooks to buy, what classes to offer, and how to create an entire school from virtually nothing.

Among these individuals was Emma Richardson. Along with Jack Carter, she was one of two original English faculty members to work at MSMS. With Jack and Claudia Carter retiring last year, Richardson and the Executive Assistant Shirley Ellis are the last two original staff members.

Richardson was born in Abingdon, Va. As she grew up, she had interests and dreams very different from that of an English teacher. “When I was in high school, funnily enough, I wanted to be a doctor,” said Richardson. She won advanced biology and chemistry awards and enjoyed the sciences that would be necessary to pursue a career in medicine. However, it was the experience of volunteering in a hospital and the influence of a very dear English teacher that turned her toward the world of literature.

“I’ve always been a reader. I can’t remember a time I didn’t love books and reading and I think that I had a wonderful English teacher in high school: Margarett Warren. I had her for three years in a row and she was a major influence on me. So while I enjoyed my science courses and thought I was going into medicine for a long time, there was this tug from literature,” said Richardson.

Richardson attended college at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian College where she received a Bachelor of Arts in English. She would later receive her master’s degree from Duke University along with 30 hours of post-master’s study at Campbell University.

After college, Richardson began a career in teaching that will reach its 41st year this December. In 1988, she took part in the founding of the Mississippi School for Mathematics and Science. She was one of 12 original faculty members and is today the last one teaching at MSMS.

“I really am proud of what we have accomplished in terms of my professional life because not many teachers have had the opportunity,” said Richardson.