G. Nagesh Rao

Acting Director and Deputy Director

G. Nagesh Rao, a member of the career Senior Executive Service, currently serves as Acting Director of the Manufacturing Extension Partnership at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). Before joining NIST, he was Chief Information Officer for the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), also within the U.S. Department of Commerce. Over the last 25+ years, Mr. Rao has worked for numerous organizations in the public, private, and not-for-profit sectors.

During his time in the public sector, he has co-developed federal governmentwide policy initiatives spurring small business and technological innovation. He has co-led programmatic endeavors such as i6 Green, Patents for Humanity, U.S. Agency for International Development Small Business Applied Research Program, and the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) Growth Accelerator Fund Competition. Mr. Rao oversaw the revamp and modernization of SBA’s digital platforms, including SBIR.gov and SBA.gov. He also led technology direction as part of SBA’s COVID-19 leadership response team – specifically, the agency’s virtual command center, Paycheck Protection Program and Economic Injury Disaster Loan efforts funded through the CARES Act. Most recently under Mr. Rao’s leadership, BIS digitally transformed its mission operations using cloud-based solutions and adopting a modern day technology stack standard. Additionally, he has a wealth of prior experience working on intellectual property portfolios, global strategies, consumer products and R&D for a variety of small and medium-sized manufacturers and multinational corporations (including Ecovative, Planet and MAS Holdings).

Mr. Rao is a Mirzayan Fellow of the National Academies, an Eisenhower Fellow and a Marshall Memorial Fellow. His credentials include a Bachelor of Science from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, a Master of Science from Albany Law School-Union University, a Master of Business Administration from the University of Maryland-College Park, a patent bar license from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, and a secret/top secret security clearance. His recent accolades include the Mahatma Gandhi Pravasi Samman and Hind Rattan awards from the NRI Welfare Society, Fed 100, FedScoop 50, American Council for Technology and Industry Advisory Council Collaboration Award, DC Inno 50 on Fire, 2019 White House Gears of Government award, and a 2022 U.S. Department of Commerce Bronze Award.