Celebrating a Pioneer in Public Health and Drinking Water Safety: Dr. Nina McClelland
Throughout her lifetime, Dr. McClelland was a relentless advocate for public health, a pioneer in drinking water safety and a leader in advancing NSF’s mission on a global scale.
Dr. McClelland worked at NSF for 30 years, serving as President and CEO for half that time. When she took the helm in 1980, few women held CEO roles, and even fewer held Ph.D. degrees in environmental chemistry.
As a business leader, she expanded NSF (or the National Sanitation Foundation as it was known until 1992) to a global organization by providing services in Europe through a new office in Brussels.
As a chemist, she made lasting contributions to drinking water quality. Today, we take drinking water safety standards for granted, in large part because of Dr. McClelland’s dedication, advocacy and public championing. At a time when there was much pushback, she was instrumental in developing two American National Standards that defined requirements for reducing lead and other harmful contaminants in all products used in U.S. public drinking water systems.
Dr. McClelland retired from NSF in 1995, but her legacy lives on, continuing to influence who we are and what we do today.
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What’s New with NSF
NSF Welcomes Nicole Parent Haughey to Board of Directors
September 10, 2026NSF's appointment of Nicole supports the organisation's continued focus on long-term growth and transformation.
NSF Launches Independent Certification Standard for Compact Products
August 25, 2026New third-party certification verifies products cutting materials and shipping impacts while maintaining safety and performance.
NSF Achieves European Accreditation for Drinking Water Product Certification Ahead of 2027 EU Deadline
July 22, 2026The ISO/IEC 17065 accreditation from BELAC complements NSF’s testing capacity, enabling end-to-end support for EU Drinking Water Directive (DWD) readiness ahead of the January 2027 deadline.
Meet NSF at Fruit Attraction
July 15, 2026NSF is excited to be exhibiting at Fruit Attraction, a leading international trade fair for the fruit and vegetable sector.