Richard C. Zink is a biostatistician and software developer who has spent more than 20 years in and around clinical trials and medical product development. He is author, editor, and contributor to 9 books on statistical topics in clinical trials and clinical research. He was awarded the distinction of Fellow of the American Statistical Association in 2020. Richard holds a Ph.D. in Biostatistics from the Gillings School of Global Public Health at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he serves as Adjunct Professor of Biostatistics, providing seminars related to his work, teaching classes on clinical trials and data visualization, and collaborating in student research. As Adjunct Assistant Professor for the Department of Public Health Leadership and Practice, Richard teaches the course Fundamentals of Applied Improvisation for Public Health Professionals; he offers similar courses and workshops for statisticians and data scientists in order to turn quantitative scientists into quantitative leaders.

Richard has been improvising since 2017. He has trained with numerous instructors at Improv Utopia, Wild Mind Improv, Rich Baker Coaching, Mettlesome, and DSI Comedy Theatre. He performs throughout the Raleigh-Durham area as one half of The Safeword is Martha Stewart.