April 28, 1998     

              RICHARD M. SMITH TO LEAVE COMMISSION
                                
     Richard M. Smith announced today that he will be leaving his position as Chief of the
Commission's Office of Engineering and Technology at the end of June to pursue other
opportunities.

     Smith, as OET Chief since 1994, has been the senior engineer responsible for
providing technical, engineering and scientific direction for matters before the Commission,
including the recent Digital Television proceeding.    

     FCC Chairman William Kennard said, "Dick has been a tremendous asset to this
agency for 35 years and he will be missed immensely.  He has been a hard working, loyal
public servant, dedicated to the responsible and wise use of our electromagnetic spectrum.  We
wish him well in his future endeavors." 

     Smith started his FCC career as an entry level engineer in the Commission's Los
Angeles field office after receiving his B.S.E.E. from Tennessee Technological University in
1963.  Smith held many FCC positions culminating in his appointment as Chief of the Field
Operations Bureau in 1981.  The Field Operations Bureau, subsequently renamed Compliance
and Information Bureau, is responsible for all FCC field engineering and enforcement
activities.  Smith led many investigations of illegal uses of the radio spectrum, including the
successful apprehension  of "Captain Midnight" who overrode a satellite television
broadcasting signal. 

     Because of Smith's knowledge and experience in the technical and scientific fields, he
was involved in a wide variety of international activities on behalf of the FCC. He participated
in numerous government to government assistance trips in coordination with the U.S. State
Department. In the course of these trips, he advised governmental agencies on how to establish
structures like the FCC within their countries, and briefed government officials on
telecommunications issues, such as Digital Television, safety issues of RF exposure,
enforcement structuring, spectrum management, advanced telecommunications and engineering
models. Smith has become a specialist in Latin American telecommunications and privatization
issues. 


                             -FCC-