Allen V. Astin
June 12, 1904 - January 17, 1984
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Scientific Discipline: Applied Physical Sciences Membership Type:
Member
(elected 1960)
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Allen V. Astin was the director of the National Bureau of Standards (NBS)—now the National Institute of Science and Technology—for seventeen years. As director, he gained the organization international recognition as a leading global center for scientific and technical research. Astin began his career at NBS in 1932 as a physicist, working in the electronics division until 1944. During this time, he developed radio telemetering techniques and instruments for the studies of dielectric materials and measurements. This led to his discovery and development of new, improved methods for the precise measurement of dielectric constants and power factors of dielectric materials. His research helped scientists to better understand the nature of energy losses in air capacitors. When World War II began, Astin’s research shifted to the development of military defenses. He contributed to one of the most important weapons of the war: the proximity fuse, or a fuse that detonated an explosive device automatically when the target reached a specific distance. President Truman appointed Astin the director of the NBS in 1952. With the resources of the NBS, he pursued a more conventional and practical application of standards for the nation’s laboratories. For example, at the 11th International Conference on Weights and Measures, he urged the adoption of an isotopic light source to replace the outdated meter bar. This led to a trend toward world metrication that Astin urged the U.S. Congress to follow (which it did in 1975 with the passing of the Metric Conversion Act). In 1955, Astin began the creation of his legacy at NBS: the construction (and eventual completion) of the massive complex of NBS laboratories in Gaithersburg, Maryland. These labs were created to serve science, industry, government, and the public with accurate standards, measurement methods, and the increasing flow of technical information. Astin’s other defining contribution was the creation of the Joint Institute for Laboratory Astrophysics with the University of Colorado. This was crucial for the integration of government and state university resources into a successful scientific institution, which became a long-lived relationship with many other universities as well.
Astin received his A.B. degree in physics from the University of Utah in 1925. He then went to New York University where he earned his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in physics in 1926 and 1928, respectively. Astin was an international representative of the United States for many different important organizations. He was a chairman of the International Conference on Revision of the Treaty of the Meter, the American representative at the 11th International Conference on Weights and Measures, and a member of the International Committee on Weights and Measures from 1958 to 1968. For his constant desire to improve American and international standards in science, Astin received awards from all over the world. Some of his more notable awards were the Presidential Certificate of Merit (along with the Army and Navy Ordinance Awards) for his role in the implementation of the proximity fuse and the Rockefeller Public Service Award in 1963. As director of the NBS for 17 years, Astin established the National Bureau of Standards as a major contributor to the scientific community.
