New Nominee for Science Foundation

Five weeks after being picked to be deputy director of the National Science Foundation, Rita R. Colwell, president of the University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute, will instead be nominated to head the foundation, President Clinton said. The organization distributes science and engineering research grants. Clinton announced that he intends to bring the current foundation director, Neal F. Lane, to the White House to become the president’s top advisor on science and technology. If their appointments are confirmed by the Senate, Colwell would become one of the most visible scientific leaders in the country. Colwell said she was particularly encouraged by the president’s call for increasing the foundation’s budget next year by 10%, to $3.7 billion. Over the next five years, under Clinton’s proposal, he would raise it by 2% to 4%, to nearly $4. 2 billion