President Clinton nominates Dr. Rita R. Colwell as Director of the National Science Foundation

PHILADELPHIA, PA, February 13, 1998 --- President William Clinton announced his intent to nominate Dr. Rita R. Colwell, president, University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute, as director of the National Science Foundation today.

The President made his announcement during a luncheon at the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Annual Meeting and Science Innovation Exposition in Philadelphia. At the same time, he said he intended to nominate Dr. Neal Lane, current NSF Director, as assistant to the President for science and technology and as director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.

Dr. Colwell, a past president of AAAS, is also a professor of microbiology at the University of Maryland. She is active in national and international research and teaching in the areas of marine biotechnology and the molecular genetics of marine and estuarine bacteria, and on the microbiology of the Chesapeake Bay. She is the author or co-author of 16 books and more than 450 scientific publications. She has been a member of the National Science Board and also past president of the American Society for Microbiology and the International Union of Microbiological Societies. Her degrees include a B.S. in bacteriology and M.S. in genetics from Purdue University and a Ph.D. in marine microbiology from the University of Washington.

Founding director of the University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute in 1985, Dr. Colwell became its president in 1991. With a mission of fostering research, training and education, and economic development, UMBI has grown, under Dr. Colwell's leadership, to include four research centers: the Center for Advanced Research in Biotechnology (Shady Grove), the Center for Agricultural Biotechnology (College Park), the Center of Marine Biotechnology(Baltimore), and the Medical Biotechnology Center (Baltimore). The latter center also includes the Institute for Human Virology. A strong supporter of increasing international scientific cooperation, Dr. Colwell played a key role in securing a major grant last year for UMBI from the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation to create VIRTUE. The first virtual international university, VIRTUE is a collaboration with the University of Goteborg in Sweden and the University of Bergen in Norway.

The National Science Foundation initiates and supports fundamental, long-term, merit-selected research in all the scientific and engineering disciplines. An independent federal agency, its funds reach all 50 states through grants to more than 2,000 universities and institutions. Dr. Colwell's apointment as NSF director does not become final until confirmation by the U.S. Senate.