Richard Stevenson received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Washington University in St. Louis. He served two years as a Peace Corps volunteer under the auspices of the Ministry of Health, Republic of Korea, implementing a World Health Organization model tuberculosis control program in Buan, North Jeolla Province, and a third year with the Seoul National University demonstration public health center near Chuncheon, Gangwon Province. He remained a fourth year on the staff of two training programs for new, incoming Peace Corps-Korea volunteers. Upon return to the United States, he retired following 42 years serving in a variety of programmatic and organizational management positions with the American Lung Association of Eastern Missouri and the St. Louis affiliate of the National Alliance on Mental Illness.