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Richard C. Seagrave was born on December 31, 1935, in Westerly, Rhode Island. Seagrave received his B.S. (1957) from Rhode Island University in chemical engineering. He received his M.S. (1959) and Ph.D. (1961) in chemical engineering from Iowa State University.

After graduating, Seagrave became an Assistant Professor (1961-1962) at the University of Connecticut and soon took a position at the California Institute of Technology where he was a Postdoctoral Research Fellow (1962-1963) and an Assistant Professor (1963-1966). Seagrave was then hired as an Associate Professor (1966-1971) of Chemical Engineering at Iowa State University. He was promoted to Professor (1971-1982) and then Distinguished Professor (1982-present). Seagrave was named Professor-in-Charge (1974-1980) of the Department of Chemical Enineering, and Interim Chair (1997) of the same department. He also held the administrative positions of Interim Director (1991-1992) of the Computation Center, Interim Provost ((1999), and Interim President (2000-2001) at Iowa State University.

Dr. Seagrave has won numerous honors and awards during his career. Some of the awards he has won include the H. A. Webber Award for Outstanding Teaching in Chemical Engineering (1978, 1980), Iowa State Alumni Association Faculty Citation (1981), University Honors Program Faculty Award (1992), Margaret E. White Graduate Faculty Award (1995), College of Engineering Outstanding Advisor Award (1997), Veishea Engineering Professor-of-the-Year (1997, 1999), the Presidential Service Award (1992), and Cy's Favorite Alum (2001). He has won the Iowa State University Outstanding Teaching Award numerous times.

Dr. Seagrave's research interests include life support systems, biothermodynamics, and chemical reaction engineering. He has authored or co-authored over 40 technical publications and directed over 25 doctoral dissertations and over 40 Masters of Science theses. Seagave has been a guest lecturer at numerous events throughout the country.