Willie E. May

Willie E. May is an American chemist who was the 15th director of the United States' National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the U.S. Under Secretary of Commerce for Standards and Technology. He has been active in international organizations, collaborating with others in Brazil, China, and the European Union.

Early life and education Willie May was born in Birmingham, Alabama and received a Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry from Knoxville College in 1968. He went on to earn a Ph.D. in analytical chemistry from the University of Maryland in 1977.

Career May began working at NIST in 1971, when it was known as the National Bureau of Standards, and spent the next four decades at the agency. In January 2017 he resigned at the end of the Obama administration. On May 9, 2018, he was named the Vice President for Research and Economic Development at Morgan State University.