Remembering Richard
Submitted by Timothy Smith, IIB Director of International Relations and Business Development
May 8, 2017
We at the Institute for International Business mourn and grieve the loss of our dear friend and colleague, Dr. Richard Seymour. Richard’s recent and sudden passing has left us deeply saddened, yet we are thankful for the gift of time we shared with him. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family and colleagues throughout the world.
The entire IIB team is most grateful for having known him, and for the great honor of being involved in his meaningful international development work. I personally have been fortunate to meet many leaders over my lifetime, yet few of these individuals impacted me as positively as Richard did. His infectious, warm smile and the humility and grace which he possessed in endless quantities was most apparent as he taught and spoke of the individuals who were stirring economic growth and leading positive change through the many training centers he and his team established throughout South East Asia. Richard did indeed walk the talk and did so quietly. Measuring the significance of Richard’s impact is altogether astonishing, as countless individuals benefitted from Richard’s teaching and entrepreneurial training efforts.
“There can be no learning without action, and no action without learning,” wrote Richard in the 2015 University of Sydney Entrepreneurial and Innovation Program’s Annual Report. Introduced to him through this quote, I was committed to meeting Richard in person, and had the great pleasure of doing so while we were both working in Myanmar during the month of September of 2016. Richard then joined us at the IIB for a few weeks in November of 2016. He made a lasting impression on each of us at the IIB over the course of his visit, and we will remember him.
May each one of us be forever inspired by Richard’s life, his work, and his love of teaching people. And may we continue in Richard’s legacy of endless enthusiasm to empower individuals through education, and to assist them in putting these essential learnings into action for the benefit of self, community, and our world.
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