Richard R. McMahon was a member of the faculty at the Institute of Government from 1963 to 1996. After a decade developing training programs for criminal justice officials, he shifted the focus of his work to management and supervision, working heavily in the Principals Executive Program. He was frequently called upon to work with cities and towns to develop assessment centers for personnel promotion and selection. Areas of expertise included leadership and management, organizational and interpersonal communication, human behavior, and training methods and design. He earned masters degrees in experimental psychology from Ohio University and clinical psychology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.