Martin Paul Meredith Richards (born 26 January 1940) is a British psychologist, Professor of Family Research at the University of Cambridge from 1997 to 2005, and since emeritus. [1]
Richards is the son of the botanist Paul Westmacott Richards.
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Apart from visiting positions elsewhere, he has worked in the University of Cambridge throughout his career, holding a lectureship in social and developmental psychology (1970) and subsequently a readership (human development, 1989) and a personal chair (family research, 1997). The research group he founded in 1967 became the Centre for Family Research and he was director until his formal retirement in 2005. His research, which he always preferred to do in collaboration with others, has ranged widely, from his initial observational follow up study of infants and their parents to studies of neonatal and maternity care to divorce and parenting. Later he studied those affected by genetic disorders as well as their families and the clinics they attended. Additionally, he conducted research on reproductive donation. He always worked with an eye on public policy and, more latterly, with bioethical issues. He was a co-founder of the initially Cambridge based Socio Legal Group and frequently served as a co-editor of their collective books.
He has served on many public bodies including the Human Genetic Commission, the Nuffield Council on Bioethics, the Ethics and Law Committee of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority and as a policy advisor for the Lord Chancellor's Department.
Books include:
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