AD-X2 Cast and Crew

Evan Casey as NBS Director Allen V. Astin

Evan Casey has worked as an actor and director for over two decades. In addition to his extensive stage work — which has allowed him to perform in DC, New York, and numerous regional theaters across the country — his most recent television work includes roles on HBO's "We Own This City," and FX's "Impeachment: American Crime Story." His voice can be heard on numerous audio book recordings for Graphic Audio, and on the recent hit podcasts Circle Round and Who, When, Wow!. His most recent directing credits include multiple promotional short films for the Nevada Department of Education, and the online production of the world-premiere play "Holler" with The Clear Branch Collective.

Adam Cooley as Jess Ritchie

Adam Cooley is an actor working in theater and film. Most recently his work can be seen in "Brie's Bake-off Challenge" on HBOMax, "Red Woods" on Amazon Prime, and "Lucky Day" for which he was nominated for a SOFIE Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy. Professional theater credits include performances at Radio City Music Hall, Signature Theater, Merry Go Round Playhouse, North Carolina Theater, Manhattan Children's Theater, Feinstein's at the Regency, the national tour of "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat," regional productions of "Hedwig and the Angry Inch" and many more.

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Joel Snyder as Secretary of Commerce Sinclair Weeks

Joel Snyder has worked in the Washington, DC area as a theater professional since 1972. His credits include performances at Wolf Trap Opera Company, Center Stage, Olney Theater, the Kennedy Center (as Morris in the world premiere of the three-character musical "Hubert and Charlie"), Center Stage, Ford’s Theater, and Theatre J (as David Malter in "The Chosen" and a staged reading of "Shylock" with Theodore Bikel) and in various leading roles in area musical theater productions including "The Music Man" (with Bobby Van), "Fiddler On The Roof," "Man of La Mancha," "The Fantasticks," "A Funny Thing …" and "Oliver!" He is known internationally as a pioneer in the field of audio description, making the visual images of feature films, broadcast television, performing arts, and museums accessible to people who are blind or have low vision.

John Astin

John Astin is the son of former NIST director Allen V. Astin. He is an American director and actor best known for his iconic role as Gomez Addams in TV's "The Addams Family" series. He spent a number of years as the Homewood Professor of the Arts and director of the Theatre Arts and Studies Program at Johns Hopkins University. As an actor, he is Emmy, Ace, and Oscar nominated, and before teaching he toured for seven years throughout the U.S. and in Australia and Ireland with his one-man show on the life and work of Edgar Allan Poe.

Alexander W. Astin

Alexander "Sandy" Astin (1932 - 2022) was the son of former NIST director Allen V. Astin. He was the Allan M. Cartter Distinguished Professor of Higher Education Emeritus and Founding Director of the Higher Education Research Institute at the University of California, Los Angeles. His research interests included diversity, equity, and education law and policy. He was also a greatly talented musician, beginning on cornet at age seven, conducting choral groups in his late teens, and eventually becoming a wonderful jazz pianist. His rendition—piano and vocal—of “Sam, You Made the Pants Too Long” was always a great hit with audiences, especially his father. He sadly passed away in May 2022 before we released this film.

Sean Astin

Sean Astin is the is the grandson of former NBS director Allen V. Astin. He is an American actor best known for roles that include Samwise Gamgee in The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Mikey Walsh in "The Goonies," Daniel Ruettiger in "Rudy," and Bob Newby in "Stranger Things." His voice work includes the roles of Oso in "Special Agent Oso" and Raphael in "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" and narrating the Animal Planet series "Meerkat Manor."

Nelson R. Kellogg

Nelson R. Kellogg is a historian of science and technology. His Ph.D. is from Johns Hopkins University. He was a pre-doctoral fellow at the Smithsonian Institution. Kellogg is an Emeritus Professor of Interdisciplinary Studies at Sonoma State University, where he taught and developed, among other topics, courses in the history and evolution of science and technology.

Roald Schrack

Roald Schrack (1926 – 2021) spent four decades performing research in nuclear physics at the National Bureau of Standards (now NIST), where he carried out hundreds of experiments and published numerous scientific papers. He received his undergraduate degree from the City College of New York; a master’s degree in physics from the University of California, Los Angeles; and his Ph.D. at the University of Maryland. He sadly passed away before we released this documentary.