Richard Schwartz grew up in Los Angeles. He wore only blue clothes between the ages of 7 and 11. He spent his youth obsessively playing tennis until video games distracted him. He majored in math at UCLA, got a PhD in math from Princeton, and is currently the Chancellor's Professor of Mathematics at Brown University. His research interests lie in geometry and dynamics. He likes to do mathematical experiments on the computer and then find proofs for the results he discovers.
Rich was an Invited Speaker at the 2002 International Congress of Mathematicians, a Guggenheim Fellow in 2003, a Clay Research Scholar in 2009, and Simons Fellow in 2012. He is the author of a number of books, including Spherical CR Geometry and Dehn Surgery, Outer Billiards on Kites, You Can Count on Monsters, Man Versus Dog, Unnecessary Surgery, and The Extra Toaster. He lives with his wife and two daughters in Barrington, Rhode Island. In his spare time, he listens to music, writes comic books, cycles on the bike path near his house, walks on the beach, or spends time with his family.