Computer executive John Rollwagen withdrew as President...

Computer executive John Rollwagen withdrew as President Clinton’s nominee for the No. 2 job at the Commerce Department.

After Rollwagen was nominated by Clinton to be deputy commerce secretary, it was revealed that the Securities and Exchange Commission was conducting an insider trading probe involving his former company.

In a letter to Commerce Secretary Ron Brown, Rollwagen said he had supplied the information requested by SEC investigators and fully expected that his confirmation hearing could have been held quickly.

But, he said, “this unplanned delay has provided me valued time for personal reflection.” Rollwagen said he now believes he could make a greater contribution in addressing the country’s economic issues from the private sector, where he has spent the last 30 years.

Rollwagen was the chairman and chief executive of Cray Research Inc., the Eagan, Minn., company that is the world’s largest manufacturer of supercomputers.

The SEC investigation involved possible insider trading in the stock of Cray Computer Corp., a Colorado company spun off by Cray Research in 1989.