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Directors of the National Bureau of Standards (1901 – 1988) and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (1988 – present)

   
Name Tenure at NBS/NIST Background/Comments
Samuel W. Stratton 1901 – 1922 First director of NBS.
George K. Burgess 1923 – 1932 Selected from NBS staff.
Lyman J. Briggs 1932 – 1945 Lent to NBS from Department of Agriculture. Selected while on staff at NBS.
Edward U. Condon 1945 – 1951 Selected as NBS director from Westinghouse.
Allen V. Astin 1951 – 1969 Selected from NBS staff.
Lewis M. Branscomb 1969 – 1972 Selected from NBS staff.
Richard W. Roberts 1973 – 1975 Selected as NBS director from General Electric.
Ernest Ambler 1975 – 1989 Selected from NBS staff. Presided over change from NBS to NIST in 1988.
John W. Lyons 1990 – 1993 Selected from NIST staff.
Arati Prabhakar 1993 – 1997 Selected as NIST director from Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. First woman to become director.
Raymond G. Kammer 1997 – 2000 Selected from NIST staff. First non-scientist or engineer to become director.
Karen Brown (acting director) 2000 – 2001 NIST deputy director. Served as acting director following Kammer's retirement.
Arden L. Bement Jr. 2001 – 2004 Selected from professorship at Purdue University. Served as head of two NIST advisory committees and on Board of Overseers for Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award.
Hratch Semerjian (acting director)

2004 – 2005

NIST deputy director. Served as acting director following Bement's appointment as director of the National Science Foundation.
William A. Jeffrey July 2005 – August 2007 Selected as NIST director from the Office of Science and Technology Policy within the Executive Office of the President.
James M. Turner
(acting director and deputy director)
September 2007 –
September 2008
Assigned the duties and responsibilities of the NIST director.
Patrick D. Gallagher
(deputy director)
September 2008 – November 2009 Assigned the duties and responsibilities of the NIST director.
Patrick D. Gallagher November 2009 – June 2014 Selected from NIST staff.
Willie E. May (acting director) June 2014 – May 2015 Selected from NIST staff.
Willie E. May May 2015 – January 2017 Confirmed as NIST director.
Kent Rochford (acting director) January 2017 – October 2017 NIST associate director for laboratory programs. Served as acting director following May's retirement.
Walter G. Copan October 2017 – January 2021 Selected as NIST director from the IP Engineering Group Corporation.
James Olthoff (acting director) January 2021 – April 2022 NIST associate director for laboratory programs. Performing the non-exclusive functions and duties of the Under Secretary of Commerce for Standards and Technology and NIST Director following Copan's departure.
Laurie E. Locascio April 2022 – present Selected as NIST director from the University of Maryland.
Created March 16, 2010, Updated September 7, 2022