Press Statement - February 22, 1999

PS 99-1
Media contact:	Bill Noxon	(703) 292-8070	wnoxon@nsf.gov

Statement by DR. RITA COLWELL
DIRECTOR, NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION

On the passing of former NSF director William D. McElroy

From 1969 - 1972, William McElroy served as NSF director after an illustrious career as a biophysicist and pioneer in the field of bioluminescence. His discovery of the enzyme that causes fireflies to light up was a major find when he was at Johns Hopkins University. I knew him personally and collaborated with some of his former graduate students. His passing saddens me greatly.

He was a diligent public servant who made a clear and conscious decision to operate differently from his predecessors at NSF. During tumultuous times for the country, he brought strong leadership that spurred major changes at the Foundation.

McElroy proclaimed a goal to greatly increase the agency's appropriations, and the budget rose from $400 million to a more than $650 million during his tenure. He aggressively sought a more activist image for NSF and worked to engender stronger Congressional and public support for the agency. He took this on during a time when the war in Vietnam dominated public attention, and while a general mistrust of science was growing.

McElroy was a visionary who expanded NSF's mission beyond the "core" disciplines. He recognized that NSF could not fulfill its mission without incorporating fully the engineering and social sciences, and extending greatly its public outreach activities.

McElroy fought to keep the basic research "edge" on a larger effort to link research investments with societal needs. When he left in 1972, we had a much closer image of today's NSF than before he arrived.

The science community has lost a great friend and advocate. My thoughts and prayers are with his wife Olga and the rest of his family.