Subject: NIH Director Calls Rumors He Is Leaving Premature
Date: Published: 11/29/88 38 lines
Source:  Wall Street Journal.  Copyright Dow Jones & Co. Inc. 

    NIH Director Calls Rumors
    He Is Leaving Premature

    Amid all the speculation about political succession in
 Washington, at least one presidential appointee is calling
 rumors of his departure premature.
    James Wyngaarden, director of the National Institutes of
 Health since 1982, was recently rumored to be ready to cede
 his post to Anthony S. Fauci, currently director of the
 National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, a unit
 of NIH. The plan was reported by the Washington Post last
 week.
    Dr. Fauci, 47 years old, an immunologist whose work has
 illuminated the complex immune damage caused by AIDS, was
 praised by President-elect Bush as a personal hero during the
 debates, giving the rumors added credence.  Dr. Fauci didn't
 return a phone call seeking comment.
    But Dr. Wyngaarden said, "I think someone with his own
 agenda is floating a trial balloon."  And he added:  "All of us
 were expecting a request for a pro forma letter {of
 resignation} along with all the rest of the 3,000 {White
 House appointees}.  The only question I was asked was whether
 I was interested in staying and whether there were any other
 government jobs I'd accept.  I said yes to the first question,
 and I said the answer to the second would depend on what they
 had in mind."
    Dr. Wyngaarden added that his main concern was that the
 post of NIH director "not become one of those that
 automatically turns over with the presidency."

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