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Christopher Szakal (Fed)
Director for Policy, Programs, and Planning
Dr. Christopher Szakal is currently serving as the Director for Policy, Programs, and Planning within the NIST Director’s Office, responsible for leading and coordinating NIST’s science policy implementation, strategic planning, alignment of programmatic priorities with budget justification efforts, and engagement with key Departmental and interagency partners. In this role, Szakal helps advance the NIST Chief of Staff’s efforts to deliver effective solutions across the entire NIST mission in support of NIST, Department of Commerce, and Executive Branch priorities.
Prior to this role, Dr. Szakal served as Acting Director of the NIST Program Coordination Office, as the NIST Material Measurement Laboratory Chief of Staff, and as a NIST research chemist. He has subject matter expertise (SME) in the measurements, characterization, and related data interpretation within analytical chemistry, biotechnology, and nuclear materials as well as implementation of governance structures related to program coordination, program alignment, and realization of an innovative research ecosystem.