Rich has been assistant professor and designer at the University of South Carolina Upstate for more than 15 years. The native Californian has Master of Fine Arts and Master of Arts degrees from Florida Atlantic University and California State University, Stanislaus, respectively. Rich has taught in California, the Houston area and Florida. His background includes extensive lighting for dance, concerts and churches, as well as experience in set design, stage management, theatrical makeup, speech, and children’s theater. Rich directed “One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” “Epic Proportions,” “Step on a Crack” and “Secret Passwords” at USC Upstate. His experience in church lighting design includes his position as lighting designer for the Twin Living Christmas Trees and other productions at First Baptist North Spartanburg. Rich is involved in the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival as a respondent and has adjudicated with the Palmetto Dramatist Association and the National Thespian Society.