Richard Galen

From Memory Alpha, the free Star Trek reference.

Richard Galen was the most renowned Federation archaeologist of the 24th century.

Galen was Jean-Luc Picard's archaeology professor at Starfleet Academy; he saw great potential in Picard and was very close to him, but ultimately Picard refused Galen's offer of becoming an archaeologist, which heavily disappointed Galen. Until 2369, the two hadn't met for thirty years, but Picard kept track of the professor's work and Galen of Picard's.

Galen spent the 2360s in micropaleontology and discovered a four billion year old code programmed in the DNA of dozens of species by ancient humanoids. In 2369, Galen was close to deciphering the code and paid a surprise visit to Picard on the USS Enterprise-D to ask him to come with him for the rest of the journey. Picard again disappointed Galen by refusing and Galen left the ship immediately.

Shortly thereafter, Galen died as a result of injuries suffered when his shuttle was attacked by the Yridians working for the Cardassians. Before he died, Galen admitted to Picard that he had been too harsh with him. Picard was later able to complete the late Richard Galen's discovery.

Among Galen's best works were his studies of the Kurlan civilization. He had several children, but they didn't follow in his footsteps. (TNG: "The Chase")

Galen was played by actor Norman Lloyd.