Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock (
) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.
Katherine E. Sharpless (Fed)
Acting Director, NIST Special Programs Office
Katherine came to NIST in 1986 as a University of Maryland graduate student working on organometallic speciation measurements using liquid chromatography coupled to laser-enhanced ionization spectrometry. She began her career at NIST in 1989 as an analytical chemist, measuring carotenoids and vitamins A and E in human serum. This activity evolved into the measurement of these same analytes in foods. She was responsible for development of many of NIST's food-matrix Standard Reference Materials. Katherine was NIST's Open Access Officer from 2013 to 2024, with responsibility for implementation of NIST's Plan for Providing Public Access to Results of Federally Funded Research. She became the Deputy Director of NIST's Special Programs Office in 2024 and is currently SPO's Acting Director.
Awards
NIST Standard Reference Materials Measurement Service Award, 1995
W.J. Youden Award in Interlaboratory Testing, American Statistical Society, 2000
CSTL Technical Achievement Award, 2003
Edward Bennet Rosa Award, 2005
AOAC Fellow, 2007
AOAC Technical Division on Reference Materials' Reference Material Achievement Award, 2007
William P. Slichter Award, 2015
Department of Commerce Gold Medal, 2017