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1993.07.01 :  Temporary Assignment of Ruth Kirschstein, Walter Dowdle, Robert Whitney, Jr. to PHS Positions

Contact: Victor Zonana (202) 690-6343
July 1, 1993

     HHS Secretary Donna E. Shalala today announced her selection
of three Public Health Service officials to serve temporarily in
key leadership roles, effective July 1.
     The three are:
     o  Ruth L. Kirschstein, M.D., director of the National
Institute of General Medical Sciences, is being reassigned as
deputy director of the National Institutes of Health and will
serve as acting director of NIH.  She succeeds Dr. Bernadine P.
Healy. 
     o  Walter R. Dowdle, Ph.D., deputy director of the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention, will serve as acting director
of the CDC and acting administrator of the Agency for Toxic
Substances and Disease Registry.  He succeeds William L. Roper,
M.D.
     o  Robert A. Whitney Jr., DVM, deputy surgeon general, will
serve as acting surgeon general.  He succeeds Antonia C. Novello,
M.D.
     o  Dr. Kirschstein, the first woman to head an NIH
institute, has been director of NIGMS since 1974.  She joined NIH
in 1956 as a medical officer in clinical pathology.  From 1957 to
1972 she was with what is now the Center for Biologics Evaluation
and Research in the Food and Drug Administration.  Among her
notable scientific achievements is the development, refinement
and application of a test that provided a means for ensuring the
safety of viral vaccines such as those for polio, measles and 
rubella.
     She was born in Brooklyn, N.Y., Oct. 12, 1926.  She received
a bachelor of arts degree from Long Island University in 1947 and
her M.D. from Tulane University School of Medicine in 195l. 
After an internship in medicine and surgery, she took residency
and fellowship training in pathology.
     Dr. Kirchstein was elected to the Institute of Medicine of
the National Academy of Sciences in 1982.  Her other honors
include the Presidential Rank Award for Distinguished Executives
and the Executive Excellence Award for Distinguished Executive
Service from the Senior Executives Association.
     Dr. Dowdle, who served as acting director of CDC and acting
administrator of ATSDR during 1989-1990, has been deputy director
of the agencies since 1987.  Dowdle became CDC's deputy director
for AIDS in 1986 and before that served five years as director of
the Center for Infectious Diseases and coordinator of AIDS
activities in the Public Health Service in Washington, D.C.
     From 1968-1979, Dowdle served as director of the World
Health Organization (WHO) Collaborating Center for Influenza and
has been a frequent consultant to WHO for virus diseases and
AIDS.  He has won many professional awards and is a member of
various professional societies.
     Dr. Dowdle is a native of Irvington, Ala., born Dec. 11,
1930.  He received his undergraduate and master's degrees from
the University of Alabama and his doctoral degree from the
University of Maryland.  
     A career Public Health Service officer, Dr. Whitney was
appointed deputy surgeon general Sept. 1, 1992.  Since 1971, he
has held a number of positions of increasing responsibility in
the National Institutes of Health.  From 1989 to 1992, he was
director of the NIH National Center for Research Resources.
     Prior to joining PHS, Dr. Whitney was director of the U.S.
Army training program in laboratory animal medicine and served a
year in Viet Nam (1970) as commander of a veterinary medical
detachment.
     Whitney was born in Oklahoma City, Okla., July 17, 1935.  He
received his Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from Oklahoma
State University in 1959 and his master's in pharmacology from
Ohio State University in 1965.
     He is a diplomate of the American College of Laboratory
Animal Medicine and served as chief veterinary officer of the
Public Health Service from 1985-1989.  His awards include U.S.
Public Health Service Distinguished Service Medal and the U.S.
Army Legion of Merit.