Fauci, nation's top infectious disease expert, to retire in December

WASHINGTON — Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert who became a household name — and the subject of partisan attacks — during the COVID-19 pandemic, announced Monday he will depart the federal government in December after more than five decades of service.

Fauci, who serves as President Joe Biden's chief medical adviser, has been the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and chief of the NIAID Laboratory of Immunoregulation. He was a leader in the federal response to HIV/AIDS and other infectious diseases even before the coronavirus hit.

“I’ve gone into this campus and into the labs and into the hospital every day, including most weekends, for 54 years. The idea of walking away from it obviously is bittersweet,” Fauci told The Associated Press.

In announcing his departure, the 81-year-old Fauci called his roles “the honor of a lifetime” but said it was time “to pursue the next chapter of my career.”

Fauci has strong ties to Worcester, where he earned his undergraduate degree from the College of the Holy Cross in 1962 with a concentration in pre-medicine.

In June, Fauci returned to his alma mater for a rededication of its science complex in his honor. Three days later, he tested positive for COVID-19 before going on to recover.

In 2020, at the height of the pandemic, he addressed Holy Cross class of 2020 graduates during a virtual commencement, and later that fall, conducted a Q&A session with students.

Fauci became the face of the government response to COVID-19 as it hit in early 2020, with frequent appearances on television news and at daily press conferences with White House officials, including then-President Donald Trump.

But as the pandemic deepened, Fauci fell out of favor with Trump and his officials when his urgings of continued public caution clashed with the former president's desire to return to normalcy and to promote unproven therapies for the virus.

Fauci found himself marginalized by the Trump administration, increasingly kept out of major decisions about the federal response, but he continued to speak out publicly in media interviews, advocating social distancing and face coverings in public settings before the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccines.

He was also the subject of political attacks and death threats and was granted a security detail for his protection.

When Biden won the White House, he asked Fauci to stay on in his administration in an elevated capacity.

The president praised Fauci in a statement: "Whether you've met him personally or not, he has touched all Americans' lives with his work. I extend my deepest thanks for his public service. The United States of America is stronger, more resilient, and healthier because of him."

Fauci said despite retiring from federal service he planned to continue working.

"I want to use what I have learned as NIAID Director to continue to advance science and public health and to inspire and mentor the next generation of scientific leaders as they help prepare the world to face future infectious disease threats," he said.

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Fauci leaving federal post: Holy Cross alumnus will retire in December