Richard (Rich) Leonard

Director of Federal Programs, ARI

Richard “Rich” Leonard serves as the director of federal programs for ARI (Applied Research Institute) and ARI’s director of the Tradewind OTA.

Prior to joining ARI, Leonard was founder of Windfall Ridge Consulting, providing tactical and strategic advice to organizations pursuing a wide range of federal science and technology opportunities. Leonard also has held research, program management, business development and P&L management roles focused on serving federal clients. These included president/CEO for Battelle Ecology Inc. and co-principal investigator for the National Science Foundation’s National Ecological Observatory Network, and president/CEO of Bluefin Robotics. His career has spanned a wide range of science and engineering disciplines on projects for all major national security agencies extending from early discovery through production. He also served as a captain in the U.S. Army.

Leonard earned a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology. He earned a master’s in national resource strategy from the Eisenhower School of the National Defense University, where he was also an industry fellow. His studies were focused on technology innovation. Leonard completed the Defense Acquisition University’s senior acquisition course.

He serves on the board of the Society for Science at User Research Facilities (SSURF).