The White House and U.S. Department of Commerce announced yesterday that physicist Patrick Gallagher will be nominated to be director of NIST. Gallagher is currently the NIST deputy director.
According to a DOC news release Gallagher, came to the NIST Center for Neutron Research 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 and became active in U.S. policy for scientific user facilities. In 2006, he was awarded a DOC Gold Medal, the department’s highest award, in recognition of this work. In 2004, he became director of the NCNR, a national user facility for neutron research that is considered one of the most productive and heavily used facilities of its type in the nation. In September 2008, he was appointed deputy director of NIST.
Gallagher is active in a variety of professional organizations and is a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.