A.E. Richards earned his B.S.A. (1923) at the University of British Columbia, M.A. from the University of Wisconsin, and Ph.D. from Cornell University. As president of the Alma Mater Society in 1922, Richards led the "Great Trek" from the old Fairview Shacks, through the streets of Vancouver, to the University's unfinished site at Point Grey. This demonstration and other organized student activities were undertaken to protest the overcrowded conditions at Fairview and delays in moving the University to Point Grey. Richards went on to work for the federal Department of Agriculture and achieved distinction as an agricultural economist. He received an honourary degree from UBC in 1949.