Richard A. Lipsey

Businessman, US Army Veteran, and Community Activist

Richard A. Lipsey, Louisiana State University graduate, 1961; Harvard Business School OPM, 1987. Married to Susan Haspel Lipsey, they have two daughters, Laurie Lipsey Aronson and Wendy Lipsey, and three grandchildren, Anna (New York), Marla (Los Angeles), and Luke (Baton Rouge). While in the US Army (1962–1964), he served as aide to the commanding general of the military district of Washington and was intensely involved with the funeral of President John F. Kennedy (the only military officer to witness the entire autopsy of the president). Richard returned to Baton Rouge and entered the family business, Steinberg Sports Centers. In 1977, he purchased S & S Wholesale Sporting Goods (now Lipsey’s) and grew it into the nation’s largest firearms distributor. He and his family own Haspel, a major line of men’s tailored clothing that originated in New Orleans in 1909. He is the founder and partner of Lipsey Communications, a chain of over three hundred wireless phone stores.

Richard serves on many charitable, civic, and advisory boards, including several at Louisiana State University, Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center Foundation, and Pennington Biomedical Research Center. He has been honored by many organizations, such as the Boy Scouts of America, Ducks Unlimited, the National Shooting Sports Foundation, and the National Association of Sporting Goods Wholesalers. Richard received the Golden Deeds Award in 2011 and was honored as Baton Rouge Business Laureate in 2012.

Richard has been a volunteer at Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center since its inception. He served for more than eleven years on the Board of Directors, including as chairman. He was also a founder of the Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center Foundation (formerly the Board of Trust) and served as the first chairman.

Richard was appointed to serve on the Louisiana State Board of Commerce and Industry and subsequently on the State Board of Regents by former Governor Bobby Jindal. He served as a cochair for the transition team for Governor John Bel Edwards. Richard is a longtime higher education leader and served on the Louisiana Board of Regents from 2013 to 2021, twice as its chair. In 2023, he was elected to the Louisiana Political Hall of Fame and most recently honored as the Man of Distinction by the Zeta Beta Tau Fraternity.