Dr. Richard Simon is the ALMA Project Controller in Santiago, leading the project controls group for ALMA. He has the unique distinction of officially working for ALMA since January 1998, having started with the Design and Development phase the US back in January of 1998. Dr. Simon holds M.S. and Ph. D. degrees in Astronomy from Caltech, where he completed his Ph. D. thesis using VLBI in 1982. He has extensive experience in interferometry, ranging from long wavelength VLBI to Optical Interferometry. His research interests include the search for and characterization of extrasolar planets and their origins.