| Name |
Tenure at NBS/NIST |
Background/Comments |
| Samuel W. Stratton |
1901-1922 |
First Director of NBS. |
| George K. Burgess |
1923-1932 |
Selected from NBS staff. |
| Lyman J. Briggs |
1932-1945 |
Lent to NBS from Department of Agriculture. Selected while on staff at NBS. |
| Edward U. Condon |
1945-1951 |
Selected as NBS Director from Westinghouse. |
| Allen V. Astin |
1951-1969 |
Selected from NBS Staff. |
| Lewis M. Branscomb |
1969-1972 |
Selected from NBS Staff. |
| Richard W. Roberts |
1973-1975 |
Selected as NBS Director from General Electric. |
| Ernest Ambler |
1975-1989 |
Selected from NBS staff. Presided over change from NBS to NIST in 1988. |
| John W. Lyons |
1990-1993 |
Selected from NIST staff. |
| Arati Prabhakar |
1993-1997 |
Selected as NIST director from Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. First woman to become director. |
| Raymond G. Kammer |
1997-2000 |
Selected from NIST staff. First non-scientist or engineer to become director. |
| Karen Brown (acting director) |
2000-2001 |
NIST Deputy Director. Served as acting director following Kammer's retirement. |
| Arden L. Bement Jr. |
2001-2004 |
Selected from professorship at Purdue University. Served as head of two NIST advisory committees and on Board of Overseers for Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. |
| Hratch Semerjian (acting director) |
2004-2005
|
NIST Deputy Director. Served as acting director following Bement's appointment as Director of the National Science Foundation. |
| William A. Jeffrey |
July 2005-Aug. 2007 |
Selected as NIST director from the Office of Science and Technology Policy within the Executive Office of the President. |
James M. Turner
(acting director and deputy director) |
September 2007-
September 2008 |
Assigned the duties and responsibilities of the NIST Director. |
Patrick D. Gallagher
(deputy director) |
September 2008-November 2009 |
Assigned the duties and responsibilities of the NIST Director. |
| Patrick D. Gallagher |
November 2009-Present |
Selected from NIST staff. |
