Meet Becky Richards, Lecturer, Business Communications at the Eller College of Management
New to the Eller College of Management, Becky Richards started in the spring 2024 as an adjunct lecturer and quickly became a full-time instructor in the fall. She teaches BCOM 314, which is focused on professional presentations, as well as MGMT 356, a sports marketing and sports communication course.
Richards comes to Eller by way of Illinois, where she served as a lecturer in residence at Bradley University for five years before moving out West. There, she taught public speaking, public relations and persuasive communication in the Department of Communication.
In addition, she has been a licensed Realtor for more than 10 years, focusing on residential real estate and residential investment properties for buyers and sellers. She also invests in rental properties herself.
Though born and raised in Illinois, Richards left her home state amid the height of COVID in 2020, for sunny, warm Tucson.
“I knew that I wanted to continue selling real estate and teaching, and was always looking for the right opportunity to get back into the classroom,” she says. “I was excited when the opportunity to teach communication in the business school came up because I knew I could use my experience teaching combined with my experience as a business owner in real estate to bring real-world application to students.”
Richards says she loves being a part of her students’ journeys, watching them grow and flourish throughout their college experience and getting updates from students once they enter the professional world.
“It’s nice to know that I’ve played a small part in their journey,” she says, adding, “I've learned so much in my professional life, and I hope that the experiences, perspectives and insights I share help in some way as they grow into professionals. There is a lot students can learn academically in a classroom, but there’s also a lot they can learn about life!”
In her personal life, Richards enjoys traveling, running, cooking and baking, all things pop culture and spending time with her husband as well as their two pugs and their cat. And while she loves being an instructor and a realtor, she calls being an aunt to 17 nieces and nephews—her favorite job.