Contact: Michael Newman, michael.newman@nist.gov
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: NIST 97-09
March 12, 1997
Contact: Michael E. Newman PRABHAKAR LEAVING NIST;
(301) 975-3025 HEBNER NOW ACTING DIRECTOR
michael.newman@nist.gov
Arati Prabhakar, director of the Commerce Department's National
Institute of Standards and Technology, announced today that she will be
leaving government service to take a post in the private sector.
Robert Hebner, who has been NIST acting director since late January
1997 when Prabhakar began maternity leave, will continue to serve as
acting director. Hebner became acting deputy director of NIST in 1996,
where he has been responsible for the day-to-day operation of the agency
and for long-range planning and policy development.
Hebner received his Ph.D. in physics from the University of
Missouri in 1971. He joined what was then the National Bureau of
Standards as a presidential intern and has since held a variety of
positions in NIST's laboratories, specializing in electrical and
electronics engineering. Hebner has served in special assignments at the
Office of Management and Budget, Sandia National Laboratories, and the
Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.
The position of NIST director is a presidential appointment.
Prabhakar was nominated to be the 10th director of NIST in April 1993 by
President Clinton and began serving in the position following
confirmation by the U.S. Senate on May 28, 1993. Prabhakar will be
taking a position as senior vice president and chief technology officer
of the Raychem Corporation, Menlo Park, Calif.
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