James B. Bryan is the founding father of modern precision engineering, pure and simple. The field continues to seek out his insight and expertise today, though he retired in 1986. During his formal career, he spent 31 years at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). He started there in 1955, working directly with Ernest O. Lawrence, Nobel laureate and LLNL founding director. Bryan left his own significant mark. His contributions to precision science and metrology created the foundation on which the entire field is based today.