Michael Tingley Richman PhD

PORTLAND – Michael Tingley Richman, PhD, 81, beloved father and grandfather, died peacefully at home surrounded by family on Feb. 12, 2025, after a brief battle with pancreatic cancer.

Born in Ann Arbor, Mich. on April 13, 1943, Dr. Richman was raised in Washington, D.C., where he graduated St. Albans School. He received his BA from Bowdoin College in 1965, his MA from George Washington University, and his PhD from the University of Delaware in art history, specializing in late nineteenth and early twentieth century public sculpture and monuments.

Dr. Richman was one of the world’s leading experts on the life and works of Daniel Chester French, sculptor of some of America’s most iconic monuments including the Lincoln Memorial and the Minuteman Statue. Among Dr. Richman’s proudest professional accomplishments was curating a retrospective of French’s sculpture, “Daniel Chester French: An American Sculptor,” which opened at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1976 and traveled across the country.

During his 40-plus year career, he taught and lectured at American University, George Washington University, and George Mason University; worked at the National Trust for Historic Preservation; and served as a historical consultant for the Korean War and World War II Memorials on the National Mall and for the Dwight David Eisenhower Memorial Commission. He edited the French Papers, a project completed by Dan Preston, and conducted an inventory of public sculpture in Washington D.C. on behalf of the National Park Service.

In 2007, Dr. Richman retired to Portland, Maine to be closer to family, friends, and his beloved Great Cranberry Island, where he summered in childhood. He was a devoted attendee of track meets, hockey games, tennis matches, band concerts, graduations, and art shows. Pa, as he was known by his grandkids, will be missed most in all the small ways he touched our lives: morning phone calls, neighborhood walks, drive-bys in his white jeep, book recommendations, coffee runs, breakfasts at Bintliffs, Celtics games, cribbage bouts, and so many more.

Dr. Richman leaves sister Renn; former wife Elisabeth; children Brad and Katherine; grandchildren Miranda, Aidan, and Grady; and his many wonderful friends. He joins sister, Robin, who passed in February 2009.

His family will honor his memory through a celebration of life to be held on Great Cranberry Island later this year.

Michael, Dad, Pa. We miss you very much.

Donations can be made

in his name to:

the Great Cranberry Island Community Center – Ladies Aid Society or the

Portland Public Library