Richard J. Zakrzewski was born in Hamtramck, Michigan, on 05 November 1940. B.S in Geology was obtained from Wayne State University in 1963.  M.S. & Ph.D. were obtained from The University of Michigan in 1965 & 1968, respectively, working under the late Claude W. Hibbard. The 1968-1969 academic year was spent on a post-doctoral fellowship at Idaho State University under the late John A. White. In the fall of 1969, he accepted a  position as Assistant Professor at Fort Hays State University in Hays, Kansas.  He has remained at the institution and, presently, has a joint appointment serving as Professor in the Department of Geosciences and Chief Curator at the Sternberg Museum of Natural History.

Research interests include the systematics of small mammals, primarily rodents with living relatives in North America and the biostratigraphy of Late Cenozoic deposits in the western USA. Membership in professional organizations include; Society of Vertebrate Paleontology, Paleontological Society, American Society of Mammalogists, Society of Systematic Biologists, and Kansas Academy of Science.