BALDWIN CALVIN BENHAM BALDWIN, JR. NIH Administrator Calvin "Cal" Benham Baldwin, Jr., an administrator for 33 years at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) died peacefully on June 28, 2017, at Kensington Park, a senior living community. He was 91. Cal's wife of 66 years, Elizabeth "Betty" Baldwin died on March 16, 2017. A resident of Garrett Park, Maryland from 1963 to 2017, Cal was born in Radford, Virginia to Calvin Benham "Beanie" Baldwin, Sr. and Louise Delp Baldwin. His sister, Sally Baldwin Seitz died in 2001. Cal joined NIH in 1953 and served in a number of administrative positions until his retirement in 1986: Executive Officer of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Executive Officer of the National Cancer Institute, and Associate Director for Administration of NIH. He received numerous honors and awards including the DHEW Superior Service Award and the William A. Jump Meritorious Award for "exemplary achievement in public administration." He also was NIH's representative on the Economic Advisory Council on Montgomery County advising the county executive on various county issues including transportation. He became a resident of Montgomery County in 1933, when his family moved to Chevy Chase from Radford, Virginia. His father served in Roosevelt's New Deal as an assistant to the Secretary of Agriculture Henry Wallace and as Director of the Farm Security Administration. Cal attended Montgomery County public schools, graduating from Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School in 1943. He served in the infantry in World War II in Germany and Japan. He graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1949 with a degree in sociology, and was a member of Phi Beta Kappa. In 1961, he received a master's degree in public administration from Harvard University. At the time of his retirement, Cal told the NIH Record "I plan to do as I please." And he did just that -- becoming active in a number and variety of civic and community affairs. In Bethany Beach, Delaware, where the family has a second home, he served on the town council and as chairman of the planning commission. He also was president of the Bethany Beach Landowners Association. In 2002, the Mayor of Bethany Beach recognized his "tireless work and persistence (over 15 years)" that led to the town's acquisition of a 26-acre parcel, which became the Bethany Beach Nature Center. The nature trail at the Center was named "Baldwin Trail" in honor of his efforts. Another multi-year project he helped bring to fruition was the hiker-biker trail from Garrett Park to Beach Drive in Rock Creek Park. He and a number of other community activists also helped stop the construction of a trail through a wetland area in the park. A founding member of the NIH Alumni Association and The Children's Inn at NIH, Cal was a board member of both organizations. Throughout his life, Cal traveled extensively with friends and family. He hitchhiked across the country when he was 16 with close friend Tom Appleby and traveled in Europe with his college roommate. He and Betty took their family on a number of road trips, including two trips across the country, a trip to Oaxaca and Mexico City, and a trip to Quebec and Prince Edward Island. After retirement, he and Betty traveled, on their own and with Elderhostel and other educational programs, in the US and to Europe, Australia and New Zealand, and Costa Rica. Cal was an avid tennis player until the age of 80, which kept him active both physically and socially. He and Betty loved spending time in Bethany Beach, Delaware and Capon Springs, West Virginia with friends and family. Listening to all kinds of music and reading mysteries, biographies, history, philosophy, and politics were favorite pastimes. Cal wasn't happy without his daily dose of news -- reading his beloved Washington Post cover to cover and rarely missing the PBS News Hour. He also spent many years researching and exploring his family history. He and Betty were long time members of the Cedar Lane Unitarian Universalist Church. Cal is survived by daughter, Susan Baldwin of San Diego, CA and her daughter, Elizabeth "Lizzie" Baldwin Hall; daughter, Sally Baldwin of Washington, DC, her husband, Desson Thomson and their sons, Alex, Adrian, and Andrew; and daughter, Ann Baldwin Nucci of Rockville, MD, her husband, Patrick Nucci and their son, Jamie and daughter, Katie. We will all miss him greatly. Donations in his memory may be made to Planned Parenthood Federation of America, P.O. Box 97166, Washington, D.C. 20090-7166 or to the Democratic National Committee, 430 South Capitol Street, SE #3 Washington, DC 20003. A celebration of his life will be held at a date to be determined. For details please contact
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[email protected] celebration of his life will be held at a date to be determined. For details please contact
[email protected].
Published by The Washington Post on Jul. 9, 2017.
