Dr. Patrick Gallagher Confirmed as NIST Director
The U.S. Senate confirmed Patrick D. Gallagher, Ph.D., as the fourteenth director of the U.S. Commerce Department's National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) yesterday. President Obama nominated Dr. Gallagher to his new post on September 10, 2009.
"NIST is a unique agency with a strong culture of world-class scientific achievement and is critically important to the nation's ability to innovate and create jobs. Dr. Gallagher is a top-notch scientist, administrator, and proven leader," said U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke. "We expect him to continue his capable stewardship of NIST as we tackle complex problems like cybersecurity, developing an interoperable 'smart' energy grid, standardizing electronic health records, and advancing the manufacturing sector."
Dr. Gallagher has carried out the functions of the director in his current position as deputy director since September 2008. Prior to his appointment as deputy director, he was the director of the NIST Center for Neutron Research (NCNR). This national user facility provides thermal and cold neutron measurement capabilities to the U.S. research community. In 2000, Dr. Gallagher was a NIST agency representative at the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC). He is an active contributor to the area of U.S. policy for scientific user facilities and was chair of the Interagency Working Group on neutron and light source facilities under the Office of Science and Technology Policy.
After receiving his Ph.D. in physics from the University of Pittsburgh in 1991, Dr. Gallagher has pursued research interests including neutron and X-ray instrumentation and studies of soft condensed matter systems such as liquids, polymers, and gels.
Dr. Gallagher recently served as the guest speaker at the American National Standards Institute's monthly caucus meeting in June.
"ANSI congratulates Dr. Gallagher on this well-deserved appointment," said S. Joe Bhatia, ANSI president and CEO. "We look forward to continuing to work in partnership with him and all of our colleagues at NIST to enhance and strengthen our nation's voluntary consensus standards and conformance system."
