Imagine taking a leave of absence for one year to hobnob with the highest ranking officials in the federal government.
Lois A. Scott, managing director of the Chicago-based public finance unit of BancAmerica Securities, is doing just that.
She is one of 15 White House fellows-four women and 11 men-named this year by President Clinton.
Ms. Scott, 36, will move to Washington in September to participate in the one-year program.
White House fellows serve as full-time paid assistants to cabinet secretaries, agency heads, and senior White House staff.
"I wanted to do it now," Ms. Scott said. "I've spent 14 years in municipal and state finance, but I haven't had any national exposure. This will complete the puzzle."
Ms. Scott was chosen from among hundreds of applicants during a long process that included interviews, extensive background checks, and investigation of personal, academic, and professional histories, said a spokeswoman for the program.
Many of the fellows have beenlawyers -there are five in this year's contingent-but bankers have long been associated with the program, said the spokeswoman. One alum is Marshall Carter, chairman of State Street Corp. in Boston.
Colin Powell, retired chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was also a White House Fellow.
Ms. Scott, who graduated with honors from Cornell University and its graduate school of management, joined BancAmerica Securities, a unit of San Francisco-based BankAmerica Corp., in 1995. Before that, she was the first woman in the field of public finance to be named a principal at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette.
Among the others chosen for this year's fellows class are the 28-year- old chief resident in neurosurgery from the University of Michigan medical school and the 34-year-old director of basketball development for the Boston Celtics. The group's average age is 33.
Ms. Scott said she does not yet know her assignment, but she wants to use the fellowship to expand on her background in public finance. In a policy memorandum she wrote as part of the application process, Ms. Scott proposed a new way of financing infrastructure investments.
She proposed changing tax laws to create incentives for making public pension money available for infrastructure spending. "The idea is to make fiduciaries responsible for investments in important projects," she said.
For example, the pension fund for federal railway employees could be tapped to make investments in high-speed rail projects, she explained.
The 15 fellows will meet soon in Washington to get their assignments. On the agenda for the year are meetings with foreign dignitaries and travel abroad.
The program was started 32 years ago by President Johnson, according to a White House spokeswoman.
During Ms. Scott's absence, Karen Walker will be interim manager of BancAmerica Securities' Chicago office. Ms. Walker is currently a vice president in the unit.
