NATION : Drexel Seeks Ex-SEC Chief for Post

Drexel Burnham Lambert Inc. has asked former Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman John S. R. Shad--who initially presided over an intensive fraud investigation of the troubled securities firm--to consider becoming its chairman, a spokesman for Shad said today.

Leonardo Williams, information officer for the U.S. Embassy at The Hague, where Shad is now ambassador, confirmed that Shad has been approached but would not comment further. The firm has been seeking a well-known and respected figure to take the chairman job as part of an effort to recover from its extended legal ordeal. On Wednesday, talks with former Sen. Howard H. Baker Jr. collapsed. (Story, Part IV, Page 1.)