Richard has been activity involved in Internet resource governance and education since the 1990s. As Chief Operating Officer at the American Registry for Internet Numbers (ARIN), his primary focus is to oversee and maintains the day-to-day internal operations of ARIN and facilitates coordination between all departments, working closely with each department director. Richard began his work with the Internet in the 1980s as a U.S. Marine through his participation in projects that converted military systems to use TCP/IP. Since that time, he has built community engagement programs and services for both ARIN and the Internet Society with recent focus on the importance of industry-wide IPv6 deployment. He has communicated with thousands of companies about their adoption of new technologies and is a strong advocate of open Internet standards.