The U.S. Senate late yesterday confirmed Raymond Kammer as director of the Commerce Department's National Institute of Standards and Technology.
The position of NIST director is a presidential appointment. Kammer, 50, was nominated by President Clinton on Sept. 4, 1997, to be the 11th director of the agency. He succeeds Arati Prabhakar, who resigned in March to join the private sector.
Kammer, the deputy director of NIST (from 1980 to 1991 and from 1993 to the present), most recently has been serving on an acting basis as chief financial officer, assistant secretary for administration and chief information officer for the Department of Commerce. From 1991 to 1993, Kammer was deputy under secretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere, the chief operating officer of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
He began his career with Commerce in 1969 as a program analyst. Prior to his appointment as NIST deputy director, Kammer held a number of management positions at NIST and Commerce involving budgetary and program analysis, planning and personnel management. During his tenure as NIST deputy director, he also served as acting director of NIST, acting director of the National Measurement Laboratory and acting director of the Advanced Technology Program.
Kammer has chaired several important evaluation committees for the Department of Commerce, including reviews of satellite systems for weather monitoring and the U.S. LANDSAT program, and of the next generation of weather radars used by the U.S. government. He also served on the Board of Directors of the American Society for Testing and Materials, a major international society for the development of voluntary standards for materials, products, systems and services.
His awards include both the Gold and Silver Medals of the Department of Commerce, the William A. Jump Award for Exceptional Achievement in Public Administration, the Federal Government Meritorious Executive Award and the Roger W. Jones Award for Executive Leadership. Kammer received his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Maryland in 1969.
An agency of the Commerce Department's Technology Administration, NIST promotes economic growth by working with industry to develop and apply technology, measurements and standards.