Professor Louise Richardson FRSE (b. 1958, Tramore, County Waterford) is a political scientist whose specialist field is the study of terrorism. Currently the Principal and Vice Chancellor of the University of St Andrews, she was formerly employed at Harvard University where she served as executive dean of the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study.
After attending St Angela's Secondary School, Ursuline Convent, Waterford, Richardson studied at Trinity College, Dublin where she received a BA and MA in History. She also holds an MA degree from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), and an MA (1984) and PhD (1989) from Harvard University. She was awarded the Sumner Prize for the best doctoral dissertation "dealing with any means or measures tending towards the prevention of war and the establishment of universal peace."
From 1981 to 2001 Richardson served as Assistant and then Associate Professor in the Harvard Government Department, teaching courses on international relations – especially in areas of terrorism, international security and American and comparative foreign policy. During this period she also served for eight years as Head Tutor and Chair of the Board of Tutors (Director of Undergraduate Studies) in the Government Department. She served in numerous other administrative capacities at Harvard University, including the Faculty Council and various committees concerned with undergraduate education, the status of women, and human rights. In July 2001, Richardson was appointed executive dean of the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study.