Professor Selected by Bush for Top Post

A Harvard School of Public Health professor will soon be heading to Washington D. C. to advise President Bush about environmental and public safety issues such as climate control, handguns and chemical waste.

Bush announced yesterday that he intends to nominate John D. Graham, director of Harvard's Center for Risk Analysis, to the top post at the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs at the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).

Graham is known by the academic community as an expert in environmental risk assessment and cost-efficient solutions to overcoming environmental risk.

However Graham's nomination may arouse some controversy among more liberal environmental and gun-control groups.

"Graham has got a deep commitment to protecting the environment, but in a cost-efficient way," said Granger Morgan '63, who was Graham's PhD. advisor at Carnegie Mellon University. "Graham is conservative-bent, inclined towards heavy use of cost-benfit analysis and promoting market-based solutions."

Paul R. Portney, President of Resources for the Future, a Washington-based enviromental think tank, said "Graham's appointment will not be uncontroversial."

"Graham will have to strike a balance both within and outside the government between the forces who either favor or oppose regulations," he said.

Harvard University Provost Harvey V. Fineberg called Graham "a national leader in the field of risk analysis," in a press release announcing the news and "an excellent choice to head OMB Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs."

As founding director of the Harvard Center for Risk Analysis, Graham has been involved in a number of public policy initiatives, and has served as president of the International Society for Risk Analysis.

Despite his heavy involvement with such initiatives, colleagues say Graham still finds time for he and his colleagues to take much-needed breaks from work.

Morgan remembers one occasion when, "after a particularly exhausting meeting at the center, John whipped out Red Sox tickets for the entire committee."

"We all went to the game together." he said.

Graham is a graduate of Wake Forest University, and holds A.M. and PhD degrees from Duke University and Carnegie Mellon University respectively.