philadelphia

Lane: seen as an effective operator. Credit: NSF

Neal Lane, the director of the National Science Foundation (NSF), is to succeed Jack Gibbons as science adviser to President Bill Clinton and director of the White House's Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP).

The announcement of the appointment, which ends 18 months of sometimes fanciful speculation about who would succeed Gibbons, was made by Clinton during his address on 13 February to the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in Philadelphia. It was the first speech made by a sitting president at the meeting since Harry Truman spoke there 50 years ago.

Clinton also said that Rita Colwell, currently director of the biotechnology institute at the University of Maryland at College Park, will succeed Lane as director of the NSF. Colwell, whose main research interest is the study of marine microbes, was nominated last month to serve as Lane's deputy, and now becomes the first life scientist — as well as the first woman — to lead the NSF.

Speaking immediately after Clinton's announcement, Lane said he was “very honoured” to succeed Gibbons. Asked why he was ready to accept a job that is widely regarded as a lot of trouble, Lane said simply: “I'm interested in the whole of the scientific enterprise, and the president asked me.”

But he added that the offer of the post had not come directly from Clinton. “It was conveyed to me,” he said. “I'd been talking to the vice-president, and of course today I got the opportunity to meet with the president. I'm hoping now to build on the work that Jack Gibbons has done.”

Science fan: President Clinton addresses the AAAS meeting, the first sitting president to do so in 50 years. In addition to announcing new appointments, he praised fusion and AIDS research. Credit: AP

The appointment has already triggered speculation about how the mild-mannered Lane will fare in the hot-house atmosphere of Clinton's White House. “It'll be interesting to see how he gets on,” says one scientist who recently served under Gibbons at OSTP. “I wouldn't have thought it'd be his style, because he's basically a quiet guy.”

But defenders of Lane, who worked as a physics professor and then provost of Rice University in Houston, Texas, before becoming director of the NSF in 1993, say that he has learned to operate effectively in Washington in the five years since then.

Lewis Branscomb, a former chairman of the National Science Board and now at Harvard University, said he thought Lane would do well. “If you look at how he's led NSF, he's been cautious, careful and skilful. He's made NSF's role clear to the Congress.”

Branscomb added that some of the earlier speculation that a “heavy hitter” such as John Deutch, the former deputy defence secretary, or Norman Augustine, the chief executive of Lockheed Martin, might take the OSTP post was “just ridiculous”, as the job lacked the clout needed to attract such people.

More support for Lane came from Chuck Larson, director of the Industrial Research Institute. “It is the perfect match, under the conditions we have,” he said. “We were looking for an industrial person, such as Norman Augustine& but it's tough to get someone like that. Neal has fought for NSF's budget, he's worked with the Congress, and he'll get on with the president.”

Clinton's address to the AAAS was low key and repeated points made in his recent State of the Union address and in other recent speeches about science (see Nature 391, 521; 1998). The president, who is being relentlessly hounded over allegations of marital infidelity, looked tired, although he appeared to be reinvigorated as he mingled after the meeting with some of the 2,500 scientists and schoolchildren who came to hear him.

One man who was pleased to shake his hand was Dale Meade of the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory in New Jersey, as Clinton had endorsed the fusion programme in his speech, predicting that in 50 years' time “fusion and solar power may yield abundant energy”. Clinton also praised progress in AIDS research: “If this progress continues, I believe we'll haven effective vaccine within a decade,” he said.

Lane needs security clearance, as well as Senate confirmation, before he can take up the position, and this could take two or three months. Gibbons will leave the post on 15 March.