Physicist Brooks Prefers Anonymity To Public Spotlight

President Bok's appointment of Harvey Brooks, dean of Engineering and Applied Physics, as Acting Dean Ford's legislative counterpart, will thrust the relatively unknown physicist into the public spotlight, a position he usually shuns.

As vice-chairman of the Faculty Council under Dean Dunlop, Brooks maintained a low profile, masterminding Faculty legislation from behind the scenes. Brooks will move up to chairman of the Council, but will continue his present duties.

"There will be little difference in my new post," Brooks said yesterday. "Bok asked me because he felt Ford had no familiarity with legislative matters."

Brooks said he accepted the job with the understanding that it would be temporary. "President Bok told us that this would be for the interim," he said. "He chose Ford and myself because we're more familiar than anyone else with the duties of the deanship."

Brooks explained yesterday his post would be only a "supporting role" to Acting Dean Ford. "I see my job as basically an adviser to Ford." Brooks said. "But he'll handle all the adminstrative problems of the deanship."

Bok's dual appointment suggests that Bok has found difficulty in finding a replacement for Dunlop. Brooks stressed that Bok wanted to make the transition as "easy as possible," and the dual deanship was the best way to do it.

Bok's announcement, although a surprise to those in the Harvard community, did not startle followers of Faculty politics. Brooks drafted most of the Faculty legislation for Dunlop, but preferred quiet anonymity to the pressure of public scrutiny.

As Dunlop's right-hand man, Brooks has been instrumental in directing the 21-member Faculty Council. Brooks like Dunlop has strong ties to the Federal government, spending at least two days a month in Washington in his capacity as a member of the National Science Board.

Brooks's strong interest in the link between science and public policy carries over into his academic work. This Spring. he will again assist two other Faculty members in teaching Government 260, "Science, Technology, and Public Policy."

The course given at the Kennedy School of Government, is designed primarily for Federal employees on leave to study at the Kennedy School.

Brooks said he expects the added burden of his new post to affect his teaching. "I'm teaching two courses this Spring, the Public Policy course and Nat Sci 134, "Technological Assessment." Unfortunately, this appointment will be an added workload."

Bok's announcement explained that Brooks will devote himself primarily to the work of the Faculty Council and its various subcommittees, including the Committee on Graduate Education.

The Committee on Graduate Education has met since December to discuss long-range issues concerning the role of teaching fellows in the University. Brooks serves on the Committee as a member of the Faculty Council.

Brooks said yesterday that he has been involved in the graduate student question since the Staff Tuition Scholarships were dropped last Spring.

"I favor a plan which treats all graduate students equitably," Brooks said yesterday. "I don't think teaching fellows should receive any special preference over the other graduate students."

The 62-year-old Brooks received his B.A. degree from Yale in 1937, and the Ph. D. from Harvard in 1940. He left the University in 1942 to assume a research post at the Harvard Underwater Sound Laboratory during World War II.

After the war, Brooks headed the Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory for General Electric. In 1950, he returned to Harvard as McKay Professor of Applied Physics. He became dean of Engineering and Applied Physics in 1957.

As president of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Brooks carries his interest in public policy and science outside the University. In the sixties, he chaired the Committee on Science and Public Policy.

Brooks has maintained his ties outside of the University. President Johnson reappointed him to a six-year term on the National Science Board in 1968, and he still edits the international journal--Physics and the Chemistry of Solids--which he founded