Richard C. Barth is senior vice president for Government Relations at Tri Alpha Energy. A venture-capital-funded alternative-energy company, Tri Alpha Energy is located in Orange County, California.

In his last position with the US government, Richard was acting assistant secretary for policy at the Department of Homeland Security, at secretary Janet Napolitano's request. His previous appointment, by secretary Chertoff, was to the post of assistant secretary for policy development. In that position, he was responsible for the full breadth of policy development within the Department of Homeland Security and was a key representative of the department to interagency policy decision-making led by the White House.

Before that appointment, Richard was corporate vice president and director of Homeland Security strategy for Motorola's Washington, DC, office. In that position, Richard developed and maintained relationships with key federal, state, and local government executive and legislative branch officials to facilitate Motorola's businesses worldwide. He managed a team that dealt primarily with first-responder (public safety) communications issues, as well as other spectrum and telecommunication regulatory policies.

Before joining Motorola, Richard handled international trade and high-tech export control issues at the White House National Security Council under both President Bush and President Clinton. Prior to that, he worked for the Treasury and Commerce departments in various trade- and technology-related positions.

Richard has a Ph.D. in Inorganic Chemistry from the University of Maryland and an AB degree from Franklin and Marshall College.