Dr. Elias Zerhouni has last word at his farewell.

Most of the afternoon’s speakers wove some sort of variation on the assessment offered by Clay Johnson III, deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget, who had been instrumental in bringing Zerhouni to NIH back in spring 2002: “The primary thing that leads to somebody’s success is not what they know, or who they know—it’s what kind of person they are. Elias, I think that everybody would agree that your personality, energy, resolve, determination, purposefulness, easygoing way and sense of humor make everyone really anxious to follow your lead. For that we can only say thank you.” He added, “You have left NIH better than you found it.”

Emceeing the occasion was NIH deputy director Dr. Raynard Kington, who just days earlier had been elevated to succeed Zerhouni as acting director. He called the occasion “a bittersweet day…It’s been an honor and privilege to work with you. I’m a better person for having known you. We have been so fortunate to have you as our hero.”

The institute directors featured prominently in a video tribute assembled by the Office of Communications and Public Liaison, whose director, John Burklow, narrated a segment straight out of Saturday Night Live. The send-ups concentrated chiefly on Zerhouni’s aphorisms, none more prominent than one NIAMS director Dr. Stephen Katz playfully, and repeatedly, mangled: “There is never a wrong time to do the right thing.”

Above, l: Zerhouni meets backstage with his son Will, his wife Uri and their son Gabriel. Above, r: NIAID director Dr. Anthony Fauci presents a bouquet of yellow roses to Dr. Nadia Zerhouni, following his remarks. Below: Zerhouni greets NIAMS director Dr. Stephen Katz. Photos: Ernie Branson

That quote hails from the intramural Conflict of Interest era, one of a series of unforeseen difficulties that Zerhouni unexpectedly transformed into occasions of strength, leadership and identity- building.

Zerhouni’s knack for managerial jiu-jitsu—an ability to turn adversity into advantage—was the theme of wholly admiring remarks by NIAID director Dr. Anthony Fauci, who called him “a most extraordinary individual, a unique individual in the most positive way. You arrived as an outsider, but will leave as one of us, and a great leader of us.”

Dr. Francis Collins (l) and Zerhouni

When he first arrived at NIH, Zerhouni sought Fauci’s advice on leading NIH. Fauci counseled, “The nature of your tenure will be determined by events outside your control.” Fauci then enumerated a series of crises that fulfilled his prophesy: “budget flattening, cost overruns at the Clinical Research Center, conflict of interest, sex grants, Title 42…It was in your handling of these difficult issues that your enormous strength of character began to be appreciated.”

Fauci said Zerhouni’s “calm, analytic, data-driven approach was the right way to approach difficult issues. You first gained our respect, then our admiration, then pride at being part of your team, and then affection…You are fearless but not reckless. Integrity is the word that describes you best…Elias, you’ve done good, real good.”

Offering remarks at the tribute were (from l) Dr. Thomas Cech, president, Howard Hughes Medical Institute; Clay Johnson III, deputy director for management, OMB; Dr. Ellen Sigal, chair and founder, Friends of Cancer Research; Mary Woolley, president, Research!America; Dr. Tevi Troy, HHS deputy secretary.

Above, NICHD director Dr. Duane Alexander says so long to Zerhouni. Below, NINDS director Dr. Story Landis offers a little soft shoe.

A second video was played featuring tributes from Capitol Hill, including comments by Speaker of the House Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA), Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA), Rep. David Obey (D-WI) and Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX), nearly all of whom lauded Zerhouni’s courage in speaking his mind on the value of research on stem cells. Said Harkin, “Dr. Zerhouni, you spoke truth to power. You should always be proud of this act of courage.” Obey called him “one of the great NIH directors in history.”

If character was the main theme, being unexpectedly capable took a close second. Both former NHGRI director Dr. Francis Collins and NIGMS director Dr. Jeremy Berg told anecdotes of first encountering Zerhouni and expecting bluff or routine, then being stunned by his depth of interest in, and grasp of, their scientific worlds.

The celebration included three songs by The Directors, NIH’s impromptu rock band for the past 7 years; they crafted Zerhouni-centric lyrics to Roger Miller’s “King of the Road,” the Eagles’ “Take It Easy” (a play on EZ) and Del Shannon/Max Crook’s “Runaway.”

Speaking last, Zerhouni pronounced himself “basically speechless—I couldn’t have asked for a better send-off. It was so good that…I’m staying!”

He thanked OMB’s Johnson, who had been President Bush’s personnel chief, and Bush himself for taking a chance on an Arab-American Muslim who was not well known in U.S. medicine when he arrived at NIH. “I am so pleased to be able to pay back my country, a place where it’s not who you are, but where you are going, that’s most important,” Zerhouni said.

The Directors rock band features (from l) NHLBI’s Dr. John Tisdale on bass, NIAMS’s Katz on guitar and vocals, Collins on guitar/vocals, OD’s John Burklow on guitar/vocals, and NIAMS’s Dr. John O’Shea on guitar. Not visible are keyboard player Dr. Tracey Rouault of NICHD and Dr. Steven Libutti of NCI on drums.

He also thanked President Bush “for being very friendly and supportive all along. When I first met him in the Oval Office, I told him that I was a radiologist, and that we can see through people. He said, ‘Then you’re my man!’” Bush then counseled, “Enjoy the [White House] visit—if I call you back here, it’s bad news.”

But there was no bad news on an afternoon when Zerhouni thanked his colleagues in “the noblest mission in the federal government,” his immediate staff, his wife Nadia, HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt, the various advocacy/interest groups, and others. “I can’t thank you enough for supporting me…You will find no greater advocate for NIH in the future than me.”

He concluded on a sober note, as if trying to hew to the wisdom of a quote he had mentioned earlier about not letting his head get too swollen to pass through the narrow gates of success: “A thousand years from now, the only thing anyone will remember about the first decade of the 21st century is the Human Genome Project, which will be the defining event of this era. And where did it happen? At NIH, which I believe is one of the seven wonders of the world. You have changed the face of medicine, and changed the hopes of millions. I am so proud to have been a part of it.”

The celebration included not just the audience in Masur, but also overflow in Lipsett Amphitheater, as well as desktop-viewable video. To see the video, visit http://videocast.nih.gov.