Richard Casper

Richard Casper Speaker Biography

Richard Casper is a United States Marine Veteran, Purple Heart recipient, Artist, and Entrepreneur. He is the co-founder and Executive Director of CreatiVets, a non-profit that provides art, music, and writing programs for combat veterans with post-traumatic stress and traumatic brain injuries. He is also the co-founder of two music companies, Casparr and We Should Write Sometime.

Richard was named one of TIME magazines Next Generation Leaders, is the feature of TIME’s documentary Evidence of Things Unseen, and recognized by President George W. Bush and The Bush Institute for his passion and work helping combat veterans. He was one of thirty-three scholars chosen to be in Presidents Bush’s inaugural Stand-To Veteran Leadership Program.

Richard served in the USMC from 2003-2007. During the first portion of his enlistment, Casper served as Presidential guard at Camp David. Later in 2006-2007 during his tour in Iraq, Richard survived four IED blasts which left him with a left-traumatic brain injury and witness the death of his friend which caused his post-traumatic stress. After nearly giving up, he discovered art and song-writing as therapeutic forms of expression and went on to attend and graduate from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. From his experiences, he later created art and songwriting programs for CreatiVets to help other combat wounded veterans heal.

Today, Richard teaches art at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Virginia Commonwealth University and the University of Southern California. He is a keynote speaker, songwriter, and entrepreneur. He resides in Nashville TN with his wife Ashley and dog Bentley.