Rick Tontarski is a Principal with IntelliForensics, LLC consulting on forensic and biometric management, operations and research. Retired from the US Army civilian force after more than 40 years of federal service, he served as Chief Scientist at the Defense Forensic Science Center (DFSC) responsible for Army forensic and biometric research and as Director, U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Laboratory (USACIL) after starting there in January 2007 as Chief, Forensic Analysis Division.

Before joining the USACIL, at the U. S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) he was Chief, Fire Research Laboratory (FRL). He oversaw FRL concept development and the creation of the Fire Research Center, serving as its Laboratory Chief from 1999 to 2007.

Rick’s career began as a fire debris and explosives chemist, and on-site technical expert at fire and explosion investigation scenes as an ATF National Response Team chemist. From 1988 to 1994 he served as Chief, ATF Forensic Science Laboratory.

He served on editorial boards including for the Journal of Forensic Sciences for ~19 years. Rick is a Retired-Fellow of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences (AAFS), a past AAFS Board Member, and served on the White House National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) Subcommittee on Forensic Science Standards, Practices and Protocols Interagency Working Group.

In 1989, Rick founded the American Board of Criminalistics (ABC), the national certification board for forensic scientists, and is past president of the INTERPOL 13th (2001) International Forensic Science Symposium. Publications and presentations include fire debris and explosives analyses, management, quality assurance, education, battlefield forensics and homeland security.