Government Professor To Go to George Mason

A tenured scholar of American politics yesterday said he will leave Harvard next spring to assume a lifetime post at Virginia's George Mason University.

Professor of Government Hugh Heclo said he will make the move to the suburban, northern Virginia school in order to raise his family in what he called a more pleasant, rural environment.

"It's more rural here, the winters are warmer, and there's more sun," Heclo said from the White Post, Va., home where he has lived for the past year while on sabbatical at George Mason.

"The quality-of-life questions are not what's wrong with Harvard, but more what's right here," Heclo said.

Heclo's announcement comes at a time when the make-up of Harvard's cadre of American political experts is in a state of flux. One scholar this year accepted a lifetime post in the department, and two others are currently weighing such offers, said Government Department Chairman Robert D. Putnam. He also said the department plans to appoint two more senior faculty members within the next few years.

Putnam said that while the turnover is unusually heavy, it does not threaten the department's ability to fulfill its teaching and research functions. "Departments of the size of ours have turnover," he said.

Scholars elsewhere also said ongoing staffing changes in Harvard's Government Department will present the University with no significant problems.

Stanford Professor Richard Brody called Harvard's appointments and expected appointments, "as fine as you could make in political science."

Kenneth Shepsle, whose area of expertise is American politics, and James Ault, who is highly regarded for his research on voting and public opinion, have both accepted lifetime posts and will begin teaching at Harvard next year, Putnam said.

Putnam also said a Berkeley Professor, Nelson W. Polsby, will make a decision on a joint tenure offer by the Government Department and the Kennedy School of Government after a one-year stint at Harvard next year.

The Government Department is waiting to see if Shattuck Professor of Government James Q. Wilson will accept a long-standing tenure offer from the University of California at Los Angeles, where he has spent a large portion of his time during the last several years.

Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences A. Michael Spence said Wilson has not made a decision. Spence said he will discuss the matter with Wilson while the professor is here for his daughter's graduation from the College.