Dr. Richard A. Meserve, chairman of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) since October 1999, will become the ninth president of the 100-year-old Carnegie Institution of Washington. He succeeds Maxine F. Singer who is retiring December 31, 2002, after 15 years at the helm.

Meserve, who has been a member of Carnegie's board of trustees since 1992, brings an unusual range of experience to the institution. "His unique qualifications in physics and law and his decade on the Carnegie board are a winning combination that will only make us stronger," said Tom Urban, chairman of the Carnegie board.

"I am extraordinarily pleased to have the opportunity to lead this important institution," said Meserve. "Although the Carnegie Institution is small in terms of the number of Carnegie scientists, it has made immense contributions to science over the years. These contributions range from genetics and high-pressure physics, to plant biology and the large-scale structure of the universe. I am eager to further Carnegie's tradition of excellent research."

Meserve will step down from his position as chairman of the NRC at the end of March, 2003, to assume the Carnegie presidency. His term with the commission was scheduled to end in June 2004. Meserve said, "I have enjoyed my service as chairman of the NRC, but the Carnegie Institution presented a special opportunity that I could not ignore. I believe that much has been accomplished during my tenure as chairman of the NRC and I know that I am leaving a strong and capable agency behind me."

Michael Gellert, Carnegie trustee and general partner of Windcrest Partners in New York, will act as Carnegie president in the interim.

Before joining the NRC, Meserve was a partner in the Washington, D.C., law firm of Covington & Burling. With his Harvard law degree, received in 1975, and his Ph.D. in applied physics from Stanford, awarded in 1976, he devoted his legal practice to technical issues arising in environmental and toxic tort litigation, counseling scientific societies and high-tech companies, and nuclear licensing. Early in his career, he served as legal counsel to the President's science advisor, and was a law clerk to Justice Harry A. Blackmun of the United States Supreme Court and to Judge Benjamin Kaplan of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court.

Meserve has served on numerous legal and scientific committees over the years, including many chartered by the National Academies of Sciences and Engineering. Among other affiliations, he is a member of the American Philosophical Society, and a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the American Physical Society. In addition to the Carnegie board, Meserve serves on the Board of Directors of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

The Carnegie Institution of Washington (www.CarnegieInstitution.org) has been a pioneering force in basic scientific research since 1902. It is a private, nonprofit organization with six research departments in the U.S.: Plant Biology, Global Ecology, Embryology, the Geophysical Laboratory, the Department of Terrestrial Magnetism, and The Observatories.