National Institute of Standards and Technology - Directors

Directors

Since 1989, the director of NIST has been a Schedule-C Presidential appointee and is confirmed by the United States Senate, and since that year the average tenure of NIST directors has fallen from 11 years to 2 years in duration. Since the 2011 reorganization of NIST, the director also holds the title of Undersecretary of Commerce for Technology. Fourteen persons have officially held the position (in addition to three acting directors who served temporarily). They are:

• Samuel W. Stratton, 1901–1922
• George K. Burgess, 1923–1932
• Lyman J. Briggs, 1932–1945
• Edward U. Condon, 1945–1951
• Allen V. Astin, 1951–1969
• Lewis M. Branscomb, 1969–1972
• Richard W. Roberts, 1973–1975
• Ernest Ambler, 1975–1989
• John W. Lyons, 1990–1993
• Arati Prabhakar, 1993–1997
• Raymond G. Kammer, 1997–2000
• Karen Brown (acting), 2000–2001
• Arden L. Bement Jr., 2001–2004
• Hratch Semerjian (acting), 2004–2005
• William Jeffrey, 2005–2007
• James Turner (acting), 2007–2008
• Patrick D. Gallagher, 2008–present

NBS Director Allen V. Astin is the father of actor John Astin and the grandfather of actor Sean Astin.