On Dec. 6, 1979, public Law 96-164 [S. 673] passed by the U.S. Congress, was signed by President Jimmy Carter. The law designated that “Sandia Laboratories at Albuquerque” become ‘Sandia National Laboratories.’

Sandia began in 1945 as Z Division, the ordnance design, testing, and assembly arm of Los Alamos National Laboratory. It became Sandia Laboratory in 1948. Sandia Corp., a wholly owned subsidiary of Western Electric, took over management of Sandia Laboratory in 1949. Sandia Corporation became a wholly owned subsidiary of Martin Marietta (now Lockheed Martin Corp.) in 1993.