Schwartz resigns from NIEHS

After a tumultuous three-year stint, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) director David Schwartz officially stepped down on Friday (Feb. 8). During his time as NIEHS director, Schwartz's leadership was often questioned. Scientists and lawmakers criticized Schwartz in 2005 when he pushed for privatizing the institute's journal, __Environmental Health Perspectives__, and last August more than 100 NIEHS researchers linkurl:voted no confidence;http://www.the-scientist.com/news/display/53502/ in Schwartz to protest his management. Later in August, Schwartz took a temporary leave while NIH and NIEHS linkurl:reviewed his management and leadership.;http://www.the-scientist.com/blog/display/53551/ That review is "still in process," according to NIH spokesperson Don Ralbovsky. Schwartz announced his resignation from NIEHS in an Email to the institute's staff. According to linkurl:__Science__,;http://sciencenow.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/2008/208/1 Schwartz wrote that "our community has not universally embraced the scientific direction or strategies that I have implemented" and that he had "inadvertently disenfranchised segments of our community." Schwartz has linkurl:signed on;http://www.nationaljewish.org/news/y2007/schwartz-hire.aspx as director of the Pulmonary...