Captain Richard Madden brings over 35 years of operational and command experience across the maritime sector, offering a practical, "sharp-end" perspective combined with modern safety science expertise. His extensive command and sea time spans deep-sea container ships in worldwide trade, Military Sealift Command underway replenishment and towing vessels, heavy-lift ships, and coastal tugs.

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As the founder of the Maritime Safety Innovation Lab (MSIL) and an expert witness in accident investigation, Captain Madden bridges the gap between high-level organizational theory and real-world shipboard operations. Currently pursuing a Master of Science in Human Factors and System Safety at Lund University, his work centers on Resilience Engineering, Safety-II, and local rationality—moving beyond the simple "human error" label to understand systemic latent failures and reconcile the friction between "Work-as-Imagined" ashore and "Work-as-Done" at sea. His background in casualty analysis is further supported by his attendance at the NTSB Maritime Accident Investigation course in 2017.

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An educator and simulator instructor at the Maritime Institute of Technology and Graduate Studies (MITAGS) since 2013, Captain Madden instructs operational and management-level courses spanning Leadership and Management, license advancement, Bridge Resource Management (BRM), scenario-based simulation training, and navigation skills assessments. He has served on the National Academies Transportation Research Board Committee on Marine Safety and Human Factors and the U.S. Coast Guard’s Navigation Safety Advisory Committee from 2015 through 2025.