Richard Binggeli, a professor, researcher and psychologist at the Keck School of Medicine of USC for nearly three decades, died March 16 after a long battle with thyroid cancer. He was 76.

Born in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, Richard to Los Angeles and graduated from Hamilton High School. He received his BS and PhD in neuroanatomy and cell biology from UCLA, and in the 1960s joined the Keck School, where he published in the fields of neuroanatomy and cancer pathogenesis.

Binggeli later received a second PhD and practiced clinical psychology.  He worked at USC until 1997. An avid archeologist, Richard also excavated and researched Paleo-Indian sites in New Mexico — some dated to as early as 4,000 B.C.  — for more than 20 years.

He is survived by his wife, Donna Binggeli, his daughters, Elizabeth Binggeli and Claire Moniz; his sons-in-law, Iain Kennedy and Steve Moniz; his grandsons, Cole Moniz, Gabriel Kennedy, and Luke Moniz; his step-children, Eric Hertsgaard, Christopher Hertsgaard, and Kristen Hertsgaard.