College of S.T.E.M. Faculty Spotlight: Richard Brown
Posted: November 18, 2025 | Author: Jordyn Jackson | Read Time: 2 minutes
Dr. Richard Brown attended California State University, Chico, where he earned his undergraduate degree in mathematics with an option in statistics. He went on to complete a master's degree in statistics at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Colorado. After graduate school, he worked for a year as a Mathematical Statistician at the U.S. Census Bureau in Washington, D.C. before returning to academia to pursue a Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics at the University of Montana.
His doctoral research focused on modeling prior distributions for use in solving Bayesian inverse problems, situations in which the output is known, such as a blurry image, and the goal is to recover the unknown input, such as the original sharp image. He applied spatial statistical methods to the prior modeling process to incorporate the variance structure of the output in order to more accurately infer the input.
In fall of 2020, Dr. Brown began teaching at Southern Utah University. His recent work includes mentoring students in SUU's new data science major as they complete their capstone projects, as well as conducting analyses of SUU student data to build predictive models that identify factors contributing to a student's likelihood of receiving a DFW in a course.
In recognition of his excellence in teaching, Dr. Brown received the College of Engineering and Computational Sciences Excellence in Teaching Award for the 2023-2024 academic year, along with several Influencer Awards.
He values SUU's collaborative and supportive environment and appreciates the freedom he has to develop and innovate within the statistics and data science programs. Since joining the university, he has created three new courses, revamped another, and is currently proposing an additional class, an opportunity he finds both exciting and rewarding as he helps shape the future of SUU's programs.
Outside of his academic work, Dr. Brown enjoys playing tennis, table tennis, and both board and video games. He is also an active member of Refuge City Church, which recently moved into the building formerly home to Smash Labs.
Tags: FacStaff College of STEM Mathematics
