THE WHITE HOUSE

                    Office of the Press Secretary
                    (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
________________________________________________________________________
For Immediate Release                                  February 13, 1998

              PRESIDENT CLINTON NAMES DR. RITA R. COLWELL
             AS DIRECTOR OF THE NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION

The President today announced his intent to nominate Dr. Rita R. Colwell as Director of the National Science Foundation (NSF).

Dr. Rita R. Colwell, of Bethesda, Maryland is currently the President of the University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute and 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 coauthor of 16 books and more than 450 scientific publications. Dr. Colwell has been a member of the National Science Board and is the past President of the American Society for Microbiology, the International Union of Microbiological Societies, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Dr. Colwell holds a B.S. in bacteriology and an M.S. in genetics from Purdue University, and a Ph.D. in marine microbiology from the University of Washington.

The National Science Foundation initiates and supports fundamental, long-term, merit-selected research in all the scientific and engineering disciplines. NSF support is made through grants, contracts and other agreements awarded to universities and non-profit organizations. The National Science Foundation is an independent federal agency responsible for fundamental research in all fields of science and engineering. The NSF funds reach all 50 states, through grants to more than 2,000 universities and institutions nationwide.