Ford's Seventh

Gradually Gerald Ford is reshaping to his own taste the Cabinet he suddenly inherited from Richard Nixon. Last week he was preparing change No. 7 in the lineup, having decided to nominate F. David Malhews, 39, the president of the University of Alabama, to succeed Caspar Weinberger as Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare. If Mathews is approved by the Senate, he will become the youngest member of Ford's Cabinet, in charge of the Federal Government's largest department with its budget of $ 110 billion.

He will bring to Washington considerable knowledge about one element of HEW's huge triad: education. Born in Grove Hill, Ala., Mathews has been president of the U. of A. since 1969. He took his A.B. and M.A. there and got a Ph.D. in the history of American education at New York's Columbia University. "His life has been centered around education," says an Alabama associate. "His father and grandfather before him were superintendents of education in Clarke County."

Some Surprises. Amiable, apolitical (he terms himself an independent) and highly intelligent, Mathews got to know Ford while working on the Bicentennial Council. HEW's traditional constituency on Capitol Hill, the liberal Democratic social activists, are likely to give Mathews a tough going-over before approving him, simply because he is a largely unknown quantity from George Wallace's backyard. For the same reason, the Republican right wing, which has found several of Ford's appointments too liberal for its liking, is at first look pleased with the selection. Those who know Mathews well think both groups may be in for some surprises.

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