Director of NIST and the Under Secretary of Commerce for Standards and Technology

Laurie Locascio

Laurie Locascio is currently the Under Secretary of Commerce for Standards and Technology and the director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).

Locascio most recently served as vice president for research at the University of Maryland College Park and University of Maryland Baltimore. She also served as a professor in the Fischell Department of Bioengineering at the A. James Clark School of Engineering with a secondary appointment in the Department of Pharmacology in the School of Medicine.

Before joining the University of Maryland, Locascio worked at NIST for 31 years, rising from a research biomedical engineer to eventually leading the agency’s Material Measurement Laboratory. She also served as the acting associate director for laboratory programs, the number two position at NIST, providing direction and operational guidance for NIST’s lab research programs.

As a researcher, she has published 115 scientific papers and has received 12 patents in the fields of bioengineering and analytical chemistry. She is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, American Chemical Society, American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering, and National Academy of Inventors. In 2023, Laurie was elected as a member of the National Academy of Engineering.

Locascio has a B.S. in chemistry from James Madison University, an M.S. in bioengineering from the University of Utah, and a Ph.D. in toxicology from the University of Maryland Baltimore.

AWARDS

  • Member of the National Academy of Engineering (2023)
  • Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (2023)
  • Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors (2021)
  • 2017 American Chemical Society Earle B. Barnes Award for Leadership in Chemical Research Management
  • 2017 Washington Academy of Sciences Special Award in Scientific Leadership
  • Department of Commerce Silver and Bronze Medal Awards
  • American Chemical Society Division of Analytical Chemistry Arthur F. Findeis Award
  • NIST Safety Award
  • NIST Applied Research Award
  • Fellow of the American Chemical Society
  • Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering