WASHINGTON -- President-elect Bill Clinton on Friday formally announced his selection of Laura Tyson, a professor of economics and business administration at the University of California, Berkeley, to head the President's Council of Economic Advisers.
Robert Reich, head of the economic transition team and believed to have been a candidate for heading up the council, was named to be secretary of the Labor Department.
Clinton named both in a second round of appointments for his new administration, which begins Jan. 20, 1993.
Tyson will be responsible for tracking economic reports that go to Clinton's desk and providing related advice. She will also have a role in preparing economic and interest rate forecasts that the administration uses when it goes to Congress for budget talks.
Tyson headed up technology, manufacturing, and small business issues on Clinton's transition team. She specializes in international trade and competitiveness issues, and has written articles and books on both subjects.
A personal friend of Clinton's, Reich is a professor at Harvard and has specialized in education and training issues that Clinton says will be a high priority as part of his plan to invest in the work force. His council candidacy reportedly ran into opposition because he is trained as a lawyer and not a professional economist.
To take charge of the Environmental Protection Agency, Clinton selected Carol Browner, currently head of Florida's Department of Environmental Regulation. She formerly served on the staff of Vice President-elect Albert Gore's Senate office staff.
Although the administrator of the EPA is not a cabinet position, Clinton said he supports legislation to make it one. He said he will treat Browner as if she were a member of the cabinet and ask her to attend all cabinet meetings.
As head of the EPA, Browner would be in charge of administering hundreds of millions of dollars worth of federal clean water and sewage treatment grants awarded each year to states and localities. She would also direct the development of federal regulations mandating state and municipal cleanup efforts.
Clinton named Donna Shalala, chancellor of the University of Wisconsin, to head the Department of Health and Human Services. The agency oversees Medicare and Medicaid accounts of interest to state health and finance officials.
