Past BEP Directors

To date there have been 25 leaders of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing filling 26 different terms (William M. Meredith headed the BEP twice, first from 1889-1893 and then again from 1900-1906).  They were originally designated as “chief”.  This title arose while the BEP was still a subdivision of Treasury operations and lasted into the 1890s, long after the BEP became an independent entity.  Thereafter, heads of the BEP were known as “directors.”  A number of the early chiefs and directors were political appointees, but most came from a background in government service, with some rising from the ranks of the BEP production floor.  Click on a portrait below to view a short biography of a past BEP leader.