What They’re Saying About Patrick D. Gallagher ...

Issue Date: 
February 17, 2014

“The American people owe a debt of gratitude to Pat Gallagher for his 20 years of service at the Department of Commerce. Pat embodies the best in public service: passionate, committed, innovative, and results-oriented. While we at the department will miss Pat very much, I am excited he has received his dream opportunity to lead his alma mater as the new chancellor of the University of Pittsburgh. The University is indeed lucky to attract a person who has an ability to bring people together and form coalitions to get things done. Simply put, Pat has been an incredible partner and friend to so many in the federal government, me included, as well as an outstanding leader for the Department of Commerce. All of us wish him the best in his new position.”
—Penny Pritzker, U.S. Secretary of Commerce

“I am delighted to hear that Dr. Patrick Gallagher will be appointed chancellor of the University of Pittsburgh. Dr. Gallagher has served as an innovative and effective leader of the National Institute of Standards and Technology. In this role, he led collaborative work to improve productivity and quality among U.S. manufacturers, and recently led an effort to set national guidelines on systems security among American businesses. Recognizing his skills, he was appointed acting deputy secretary at the U.S. Department of Commerce last June, which made him the chief operating officer of that organization. I had the pleasure of working closely with Patrick at the Department of Commerce. He was always a valuable colleague and leader, with excellent management skills and a collaborative work style. He understands scientific inquiry, and how to translate that to nonscientists. Even more importantly, Patrick is a strategic thinker who knows how to establish and implement a vision for the organization that he leads.”
—Rebecca Blank, Chancellor, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Former Deputy Secretary and Acting Secretary, U.S. Department of Commerce

“I am delighted that Pat Gallagher will become the next Chancellor of the University of Pittsburgh. I very much enjoyed my collaborations with Pat when our careers overlapped in Washington, D.C., as heads of federal agencies. It was a pleasure to partner with him as we helped launch the National Robotics Initiative, the Big Data Initiative, and the Advance Manufacturing Initiative. I am excited about the great possibilities ahead for CMU and Pitt to continue our collaboration as we take these two great universities, the City of Pittsburgh, and the Western Pennsylvania region to even greater heights through our friendship and partnership.”
—Subra Suresh, President, Carnegie Mellon University

“Pat Gallagher has been an extraordinary leader at NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology). He is wise in the ways of both scientific research and governmental policy. He has unusually broad scientific interests, ranging from problems of manufacturing, to DNA fingerprinting, to energy innovation and innovation policy. Most importantly, he combines enormous integrity and great optimism with an exceptional ability to work with people. He is a superb choice to lead the University of Pittsburgh.”
—Eric Lander, President and Founding Director, Broad Institute