RICHARD E. MELLIN is a retired property manager of 33 years and an antiques dealer of 44 years who has owned a home in Vero Beach since 2005 and has been a full-time resident since 2021. Much of his local philanthropic activity has been as a Board Member of the Indian River State College Foundation, focused on the “Promise Program” that provides a pathway to a tuition-free associate’s degree at the college.
Rich is a volunteer at the Grand Harbor Community Outreach Program that provides grants to thirty-two 501(3)(c) organizations and a docent at the McLarty Treasure Museum, where he shares the story about the 1715 Spanish Fleet tragedy. To him, it is not all about the gold, silver, or jewels but about the trade goods such as the Chinese export porcelain that helped Spain create and dominate a global economy for 250 years.
His education started at Ocean County College as a member of the first graduating community college class in 1988. He earned a BA at Lafayette College in 1969 and an MS at the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education in 1971. He completed two years of an EdD program as a Ford Foundation Fellow at the University of Pennsylvania. He left the world of education and had a successful corporate career at Xerox, Remington Rand, and Dictaphone.
He became a partner in 1988 with his wife in Mellin & Associates, LLC, and was involved in the Community Association Institute as the Chairperson of the CT Managers’ Council for ten years and a member of the Legislative Committee. He conducted educational seminars and wrote numerous articles that focused on improving the business practices of his colleagues.
Rich and his wife wrote and self-published Collecting Canton: In Pursuit of the Best, the first book to deal exclusively with Chinese export porcelain with the Canton design. He lectured about Canton and wrote numerous articles, including the story about the Diana cargo that was salvaged with 22,000 pieces of Chinese export porcelain and sold in 1995 in Amsterdam. His focus is now on Chinese export porcelain on the 1715 Spanish Fleet.