Harry Van Buren Richardson (b. 1901 d. 1990) was an educator, scholar, author, minister, and the founder and first President of the Interdenominational Theological Center (ITC) in Atlanta. He received a bachelor's degree in history from Western Reserve University (1925), and a Bachelor of Sacred Theology degree from the Harvard University Divinity School (1932). In 1945 he received a doctorate from Drew University Theological Seminary focusing on rural sociology and religion. His dissertation, a study of the rural church, was published in 1947 under the title, Dark Glory. In 1933 Richardson accepted the position of Chaplain at Tuskegee Institute in Alabama, a position he held until 1948. There, he built his reputation as an outstanding orator and counselor to youth. His sermon, "For God So Loved the World", at the burial of George Washington Carver, is regarded as a pulpit classic. While in Alabama, he organized a statewide interracial ministers alliance to help improve race relations. During his tenure at Tuskegee Institute, Richardson developed a religious extension program to provide leadership training for rural ministries and to help improve the standard of living for the poor in the rural South. The Program for the Training of the Rural Ministry was subsequently funded by the Home Missions Council of North America and the Phelps-Stokes Fund. Dr. Richardson served as Field Director for the program from 1945 to 1950. At its height, the program employed eighteen full-time employees in nine Southern states.

Dr. Richardson moved to Atlanta in 1948 to become President of Gammon Theological Seminary. During his presidency he organized efforts to create and fund the Interdenominational Theological Center. ITC is a Christian, ecumenical, coeducational, graduate professional school of theology comprised from a federation of six historic African-American seminaries. Dr. Richardson served as President of ITC from 1959 to 1968, whereupon he was elected President Emeritus. His book Walk Together Children published in 1981 is a history of the creation and development of ITC. Upon his retirement from ITC, Dr. Richardson served from 1969-1970 as Interim National Executive Director of the United Negro College Fund.