Kistiakowsky Resigns As Pentagon Advisor

George B. Kistiakowsky, Abbot and James Lawrence Professor of Chemistry and advisor to three Presidents, has resigned from his post as consultant in the Defense Department.

He reportedly took this action in an effort to dissociate himself from any activities contributing to the war effort.

"There exists a desperate need for reevaluation of our foreign policy, particularly in Vietnam," Kistiakowsky said last night in a CRIMSON interview. He called for a cessation of U.S. bombing of North Vietnam and for recognition of the Viet Cong in any coalition government.

He refused to connect these anti-war statements with his resignation.

Kistiakowsky also said he tried to follow high moral standards and, at the same time, remain patriotic. "I have tried to make my actions conform to these principles," he said.

Symbolic Value

An explosives expert, Kistiakowsky's advice on the proposed anti-infiltration barrier into Vietnam will be missed. But his resignation is also viewed as having considerable symbolic value. Other professors allegedly may follow his example.

Some reports indicate that the specific cause of his resignation was the defoliation program now underway in Vietnam. The professor's wife has denied these reports by saying "defoliation of people, more than of trees" prompted his resignation.

Kistiakowsky's abandoning his Pentagon post still left him with a number of other governmental advisory positions not related to the war.

The Russian born chemist migrated to the United States following the Russian Revolution and joined the Faculty at Harvard in 1930. During the war, he designed the triggering device for the atomic bomb.