After the war (WWII) he accepted a research and teaching position at the University of Wisconsin and moved to Madison. In 1952 he became a full professor of physics. While at the University he served terms as Department Chair and Associate Dean of Letters and Science. Hugh’s true passion was scientific research and he was a mentor to forty-nine PhD level graduate students.
After the 1970 bombing of Sterling Hall in which a physics graduate student was killed, and years of valuable research destroyed Professor Richards’ leadership has been credited with preserving the personnel, focus and morale of the physics department.