Victor R. McCrary, Jr.


Physical Chemistry
B.A., The Catholic University of America, 1978, Chemistry
M.S., University of Pennsylvania, 1995, Engineering
Ph.D., Howard University, 1985 Chemistry

McCrary currently serves as Vice President for Research and Professor of Chemistry at the University of the District of Columbia. Previously, he was Vice Chancellor for Research at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville and the first Vice President for Research and Economic Development and Professor of Chemistry at Morgan State University, Baltimore, MD. Prior to that, McCrary was the Business Area Executive for Science & Technology and principal professional staff at The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory where he directed internal research and development (IRAD) funding to develop new core competencies and innovations in the areas of national security and space technologies for civilian and military applications.

He started his career at AT&T Bell Laboratories-Murray Hill, as a post-doc and then Member of Technical Staff before being tapped to be a program manager with the Advanced Technology Program and becoming the first Chief of the Convergent Information Systems Division at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). At NIST, McCrary led the first efforts to develop industry standards for electronic books where he was a co-recipient of the US Department of Commerce’s Gold Medal for his efforts. He is a former national president of the National Organization for the Professional Advancement of Black Chemists and Chemical Engineers (NOBCChE) and a Fellow of the American Chemical Society.

McCrary was a member of the NSB class of 2016 – 2022 and was reappointed to the class of 2022 – 2028.