Gallagher to run NIST

US President Barack Obama is to nominate physicist Patrick Gallagher to run US Commerce Department’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). Gallagher, 46, is currently the NIST deputy director .

“NIST is a unique agency with a strong culture of world-class scientific achievement,” US Commerce Secretary Gary Locke said. “Pat Gallagher has come up through the ranks and his continued leadership will be critical to an agency that is central to the nation’s ability to innovate and compete in global markets.”

If confirmed by the Senate, Gallagher will direct an agency with an annual budget of approximately US$ 800m that employs approximately 2,900 scientists, engineers, technicians, support staff and administrative personnel at two primary locations: Gaithersburg, Maryland, and Boulder, Colorado. Gallagher will succeed William Jeffrey, who left NIST in 2007.

Gallagher, who has a doctorate in physics from the University of Pittsburgh, came to the NIST Center for Neutron Research (NCNR) in 1993 to pursue research in 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) and became active in US policy for scientific user facilities. In 2006, he was awarded a Department of Commerce Gold Medal, the department’s highest award, in recognition of this work. In 2004, he became director of the NCNR, one of the most heavily used facilities of its type in the nation. In September 2008, he was appointed deputy director of NIST.

Paul Guinnessy