From NBS to NIST

Over the past century, the National Institute of Standards and Technology has had several different names. Founded as the National Bureau of Standards in 1901, it was renamed Bureau of Standards in 1903. In 1934, the word "national" was affixed again to its name. For more than 50 years it remained the National Bureau of Standards, or NBS. It became the National Institute of Standards and Technology, or NIST, in 1988. To eliminate confusion, the name National Institute of Standards and Technology is used throughout this web site.

Since its founding in 1901, NIST has been led by the following directors:

Samuel W. Stratton, 1901-1922
George K. Burgess, 1923-1932
Lyman J. Briggs, 1932-1945
Edward U. Condon, 1945-1951
Allen V. Astin, 1951-1969
Lewis M. Branscomb, 1969-1972
Richard W. Roberts, 1973-1975
Ernest Ambler, 1975-1989
John W. Lyons, 1990-1993
Arati Prabhakar, 1993-1997
Ray Kammer, 1997-2000
Karen Brown (Acting Director), 2000-2001
Arden L. Bement, Jr., 2001-2004
Hratch Semerjian (Acting Director), 2004-2005
William A. Jeffrey, 2005-2007
James M. Turner (Deputy Director), 2007-2008
Patrick D. Gallagher (Deputy Director), 2008 to November 2009
Patrick D. Gallagher (Director), November 2009 to present

Date created: 11/1/2000
Last updated: 11/20/2009
Contact: inquiries@nist.gov