ANSI Appoints Laurie Locascio as Next President and CEO

Laurie E. Locascio, Ph.D., has been selected as the new president and chief executive officer of the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), a private non-profit 501(c)(3) organization that administers and coordinates the U.S. voluntary standardization and conformity assessment system.

Locascio, who is serving as Under Secretary of Commerce for Standards and Technology and director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) since her confirmation by the U.S. Senate in April 2022, was elected at a special meeting of the ANSI Board of Directors yesterday. Her appointment follows a robust search to identify a successor to Joe Bhatia, who retires from ANSI at year-end after nearly two decades of service. Locascio will assume the office of ANSI president and CEO in January 2025.

“Laurie Locascio embodies the right mix of visionary leadership, knowledge, and skills that will build on ANSI’s incredible successes and lead the Institute into the future,” said Christian Dubay, chair of the Board Search Committee. “She brings an impressive background in science and technology, in-depth knowledge of standardization, and unwavering commitment to the public-private partnership that forms the backbone of the U.S. private-sector-led standardization system.”

“I have the deepest respect for ANSI, its mission, and its people having worked with the organization throughout my career. I am thrilled to be entrusted with the leadership of this renowned institution with such incredible national and global impact,” said Locascio. “I am also proud to be following Joe Bhatia, who has been an incredibly strong and impactful leader for ANSI for almost two decades.”

During her tenure as Under Secretary of Commerce for Standards and Technology and NIST director, Locascio has overseen NIST in its mission to promote U.S. innovation and competitiveness through measurement science, standards, and technology, including NIST’s implementation of the U.S. Government National Standards Strategy for Critical and Emerging Technology (USG NSSCET) and implementation of the CHIPS for America program at the Department of Commerce.

Prior to her appointment as NIST director, Locascio served as vice president for research at the University of Maryland College Park and University of Maryland Baltimore, also serving as a professor of bioengineering. Prior to that, Locascio had a stellar career at NIST, rising from a research biomedical engineer to lead the agency’s Material Measurement Laboratory and finally acting as associate director for laboratory programs and principal deputy director.

Locascio is a fellow of the National Academy of Engineering, National Academy of Inventors, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Chemical Society, and the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering. She earned 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.

“On behalf of the entire Board of Directors, I congratulate Laurie on her appointment, and am confident that she will further ANSI’s exceptionalism in the service of our members, constituents, U.S. industry, and the nation,” said David Miller, chair of the ANSI Board of Directors.