HISTORICAL BACKGROUND 33Joint NIMH-NINDB Intramural
Basic Research Program
Charged with creating an intramural research program, Felix was some
what at a loss as to how to proceed. His own background included some
neurophysiology but he realized he was not an expert and his career lay
in administration, not science. After an unsuccessful search for three
years for someone to head the program, Felix approached Norman
Topping,^1 associate director of the NIH, for advice, hoping he might
be able to suggest someone who had good credentials but was young
enough to take a chance on becoming a scientific director.^2 Topping
recommended Seymour S. Kety, a young professor in the Department
of Physiology and Pharmacology at the University of Pennsylvania’s
Graduate School of Medicine.^3 In the summer of 1950, Felix visited
Kety and discussed the plans for the program. At the end of the visit,
Felix offered Kety the position of Associate Director in Charge of Research.
When Kety queried him about his choice–a physiologist as opposed to
a psychiatrist–Felix emphasized his preference for a scientist who would
“ensure scientifically sound and rigorous research.”^4
Kety visited the Bethesda campus and saw the construction of the
NIH Clinical Center already underway. He also conferred with the
scientific directors of the NCI and the NHI–Harold Eagle and James
Shannon, respectively–prior to making his decision. He was so impres
sed by Felix’s tolerance of, and encouragement for, multidisciplinary
research and the invaluable opportunity to direct what Felix called, “the
greatest institution for the study of the brain and behavior that the
world has ever seen,” that he accepted the position and was appointed
in May 1951.^5