Tufts President

Dr. Jean Mayer, president of Tufts University, is in"stable and improving condition" following a brief period of unconsciousness on Thursday, doctor at Elmendorf Air Force Base Hospital in Alaska said yesterday in an official statement.

Mayer, a 59-year-old nutrition specialist, lapsed into unconsciousness en route to Cambodia, where he was to work with the U.S. Congressional Women's Caucus to investigate and evaluate relief efforts there.

The plane stopped in Anchorage on Thursday afternoon, and Mayer was taken to Elmendorf, where he was treated. He is now conscious and resting in the hospital's intensive care coronary unit.

Doctors at Elmendorf said Mayer apparently did not suffer a heart attack as was previously thought, though they could not explain why he became comatose during his flight.

Robert B. Shira, senior vice president of Tufts, was named acting president of the university in Mayer's absence.