dr Anthony Fauci will leave government service in December to pursue “the next chapter” of his career, while President Joe Biden praised his work during the Covid pandemic.
“I was able to call him any time of the day for his advice as we tackled this once in a lifetime pandemic. His commitment to the work is unwavering and he does it with unparalleled spirit, energy and scholarly integrity,” Biden said in a statement.
Fauci, 81, has hinted for months that he is considering retirement but never gave an end date for his public service. He officially announced this on Monday.
“As long as I’m healthy about what I am, and I’m energetic about what I am, and I’m passionate about what I am, I want to do some things outside of the federal government’s purview,” he told the New York Times.
He did not say how things will continue for him, but ruled out a job in the pharmaceutical industry. He said he was working on memoirs but didn’t have a publisher.
“Although I am retiring from my current positions, I am not retiring. After more than 50 years in public service, I plan to embark on the next phase of my career while still having as much energy and passion for my field. I want to use what I’ve learned as NIAID Director to continue advancing science and public health, and to inspire and mentor the next generation of scientific leaders as they help prepare the world for future infectious disease threats ‘ Fauci said in a statement.
dr Anthony Fauci will leave government service in December to pursue “the next chapter” of his career
President Biden praised Dr. Fauci’s work on the Covid pandemic: “His dedication to the work is unwavering, and he does it with unparalleled spirit, energy, and scientific integrity,” Biden said; over the two men in the White House in November 2021
Fauci became a household name during Donald Trump’s presidency when he clashed with the then-president over handling the Covid pandemic.
Trump considered firing him even though Fauci was not a political appointee.
He said he was considering stepping down after Trump left the White House but did not want to turn down Biden’s request to stay during the Covid pandemic.
“So I stayed for a year thinking at the end of the year it was going to be the end of Covid and as it turns out that’s not what happened,” Fauci said. “And now it’s my second year here and I just realized there are things I want to do.”
Fauci also clashed with Republicans in Congress over measures to contain the pandemic, most notably Senator Rand Paul.
There were indications that if Republicans gained control of Congress in November’s election, they would launch an investigation into Fauci. There was speculation that he would resign to avoid that.
Fauci called it “nonsense.”
Fauci became Biden’s chief medical adviser when Biden entered the White House. He has also been Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases for 38 years.
Biden said Fauci saved countless lives while working on infectious diseases.
“Due to the many contributions of Dr. Fauci on public health has saved lives here in the United States and around the world. As he leaves his position in the US government, I know that the American people and the entire world will continue to love Dr. Fauci’s expertise will benefit whatever he does next. Whether you’ve met him in person or not, his work has touched the lives of every American. I express my deepest gratitude to him for his public service. The United States of America is stronger, more resilient and healthier because of him,” the President said in his statement.
dr Anthony Fauci became a household name during the Covid pandemic, repeatedly clashing with then-President Donald Trump; about Trump and Fauci at the White House in March 2020
For his services, Fauci was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President George W. Bush in June 2008
Fauci is seen with Sir Elton John in Washington, DC in July 2012
‘I still have so much energy and passion for my subject’: Fauci’s statement of retirement – but insists he won’t retire
I am announcing today that I will be stepping down from the positions of Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and Director of the NIAID Laboratory of Immunoregulation, and from the position of Chief Medical Advisor to President Joe Biden. I will leave these positions in December this year to pursue the next chapter of my career.
It has been a lifetime honor to have led NIAID, an extraordinary institution, through so many years and through so many scientific and public health challenges. I am very proud of our many achievements. I have worked with and learned from countless talented and dedicated people in my own lab, at NIAID, at NIH and beyond. I express my lasting respect and gratitude to you.
Over the past 38 years as NIAID Director, I have had the tremendous privilege of serving under and advising seven Presidents of the United States, beginning with President Ronald Reagan, on emerging and re-emerging threats from infectious diseases, including HIV/AIDS , West Nile Virus, the anthrax attacks, the pandemic influenza, various avian flu threats, Ebola and Zika, among others, and of course most recently the COVID-19 pandemic. I am particularly proud to have served as Chief Medical Advisor to President Joe Biden from day one of his tenure.
As I step down from my current positions, I am not retiring. After more than 50 years in public service, I plan to embark on the next phase of my career while still having as much energy and passion for my field. I want to use what I’ve learned as NIAID Director to continue advancing science and public health and to inspire and mentor the next generation of scientific leaders as they help prepare the world for future infectious disease threats.
In the coming months, I will continue to put all my energy, passion and commitment into my current responsibilities and to help prepare the institute for a leadership change. The NIH is overseen by some of the most talented scientists in the world, and I have no doubt that I am placing this work in very capable hands.
Thanks to the power of science and investments in research and innovation, the world has been able to fight deadly diseases and help save lives around the world. I am proud to have been part of this important work and look forward to continuing to contribute in the future.
NIAID conducts and supports research—at the NIH, in the United States, and worldwide—to study the causes of infectious and immune-mediated diseases and to develop better ways to prevent, diagnose, and treat these diseases. Press releases, fact sheets and other NIAID-related materials are available on the NIAID website.
Fauci joined the National Institutes of Health in 1968 when Lyndon Johnson was president. He worked with Biden when Biden was vice president for the Zika virus and played a prominent role during the AIDS crisis.
Fauci was born in Brooklyn in 1940, the son of pharmacy owners whose parents had immigrated to the United States from Italy.
President George W. Bush, who awarded Fauci the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2008, noted that even as a boy he showed an independent streak: In a neighborhood full of Brooklyn Dodgers fans, Fauci represented the Yankees.
And although Fauci was short in stature, he managed the basketball team at the prestigious Regis High School, which he attended on a scholarship.
He then attended the College of the Holy Cross in Massachusetts before earning an MD from Cornell University.
“My interest in medicine stems from my deep interest in people, in asking questions and solving problems,” Fauci said in a 1989 interview with the NIH Historical Office.
Fauci is a long-distance runner and completed the 1984 Army Corps Marathon in 3 hours 37 minutes.
Fauci became head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in 1984 when the nation was in the AIDS crisis.
He remembers the great frustration of caring for dying patients at the NIH’s hospital, which had nothing to offer.
Hours later, he chatted with then-Surgeon General C. Everett Koop about what scientists were learning about AIDS, influencing Koop’s famous 1986 report educating Americans about the disease.
But amid the stress of work, the workaholic Fauci found solace in his personal life.
In 1985, at the age of 44, he married nurse Christine Grady. The couple had three daughters: Jennifer, Megan and Alison.