Patrick D. Gallagher

Dr. Patrick Gallagher was confirmed as the 14th Director of the U.S. Department of Commerce's National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) on Nov. 5, 2009. He also serves as Under Secretary of Commerce for Standards and Technology, a new position created in the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2010, signed by President Obama on Jan. 4, 2011.

Gallagher provides high-level oversight and direction for NIST. The agency promotes U.S. innovation and industrial competitiveness by advancing measurement science, standards, and technology. NIST's FY 2012 resources total $750.8 million from the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act of 2012 (P.L. 112-55), with an estimated additional annual income of $62.7 million in service fees, and $128.9 million from other agencies. The agency employs about 2,900 scientists, engineers, technicians, support staff, and administrative personnel at two main locations in Gaithersburg, Md., and Boulder, Colo.

Gallagher had served as Deputy Director since 2008. Prior to that, he served for four years as Director of the NIST Center for Neutron Research (NCNR), a national user facility for neutron scattering on the NIST Gaithersburg campus. The NCNR provides a broad range of neutron diffraction and spectroscopy capability with thermal and cold neutron beams and is presently the nation's most used facility of this type. Gallagher received his Ph.D. in Physics at the University of Pittsburgh in 1991. His research interests include neutron and X-ray instrumentation and studies of soft condensed matter systems such as liquids, polymers, and gels. In 2000, Gallagher was a NIST agency representative at the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC). He has been active in 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. Currently, he serves as co-chair of the Standards Subcommittee under the White House National Science and Technology Council.