Former NIST innovator nominated Commerce Undersecretary for Standards and Technology

President Joe Biden nominated Laurie Locascio, Ph.D., to lead the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) within the U.S. Department of Commerce and serve as Undersecretary for Standards and Technology. Locascio is currently the vice president for research at the University of Maryland, College Park and the University of Maryland, Baltimore, where she oversees the research and innovation enterprise of the two campuses. Prior to her work there, Locascio had a long career as a researcher, innovator and scientific leader at NIST, where she most recently served as the acting principal deputy director and associate director for laboratory programs. She received a B.Sc. in chemistry from James Madison University, a M.Sc. in bioengineering from the University of Utah, and a Ph.D. in toxicology from the University of Maryland, Baltimore. As a biomedical researcher, she has published more than 100 scientific papers and 11 patents over the course of her career.