Jean-Luc Picard's archaeology mentor, who died pursuing the secret of an ancient genetic message hidden across the galaxy.
Professor Richard Galen taught Picard archaeology and hoped he would become an archaeologist. In The Chase he visited the Enterprise-D and invited Picard to join him on a mysterious research expedition, which Picard declined.
Galen's shuttle was attacked shortly afterwards, and he died of his injuries. Picard took up his work and found that Galen had been assembling a program hidden in the DNA of species throughout the galaxy. Racing Cardassian, Klingon and Romulan teams, Picard completed it and revealed a message from an ancient humanoid race who had seeded the galaxy with life.