BROADCASTS.com

b'Patrick Gallagher has Cita Furlani\'s back.\\n\\n

Gallagher, the new director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, praised Furlani, head of NIST\'s Information Technology Laboratory, for her ITL reorganization plan to encourage more multidisciplinary collaboration with other agency units in developing cybersecurity programs and guidance. The plan received mixed reviews from NIST stakeholders, and Furlani withdrew it for further review.\\n\\n

"Every manager should be striving to make sure their organization is as effective as possible," Gallagher, who the Senate confirmed last month as NIST director, said in an interview with GovInfoSecurity.com. "What Cita was doing was looking at one of the major tools that a manager has, which is your organizational structure optimized for being as effective as possible. It was a very thoughtful proposal. The reality is that many of the cybersecurity activities already spread across various division within ITL, and this was the chance to try to create some synergies to make the organization more effective."\\n\\n

In the interview, Gallagher also discussed: \\n\\n

Gallagher was interviewed by Eric Chabrow, managing editor of GovInfoSecurity.com.\\n\\n

President Obama nominated Gallagher, 46, to his new post on Sept. 10. The Senate confirmed Gallagher as NIST\'s 14th director on Nov. 5. Gallagher has worked at NIST, part of the Department of Commerce, since 1993 as a scientist, laboratory director and deputy director. He served as interim director from September 2008 until his confirmation. \\n\\n

Gallagher has a Ph.D. in physics from the University of Pittsburgh. He taught high school math and science for a year after receiving his B.A. in physics and philosophy from Benedictine College in Atchison, Kan. Gallagher came to the NIST Center for Neutron Research in 1993 to pursue research in neutron and X-ray instrumentation and accompanying studies of the properties of technologically important "soft\' materials such as polymers, liquids and gels.\\n\\n

In 2000, Gallagher was a NIST agency representative for the White House National Science and Technology Council and became active in federal. policy for scientific user facilities. At the Office of Science and Technology Policy, he served as chair of the Interagency Working Group on neutron and light source facilities. In 2006, he was awarded a Department of Commerce Gold Medal, the department\'s highest award, in recognition of this work. In 2004, he became director of the Center for Neutron Research, a national user facility for neutron research that is one of the most heavily used facilities of its type in the nation.\\n\\n

A native of Albuquerque, N.M., Gallagher lives with his wife and three sons in Olney, Md.'