Donald B. McLaughlin, prominent geologist, has been appointed chairman of the National Committee of Sponsors for the New Harvard Foundation for Advanced Study and Research, President Conant announced yesterday.

The President also named 52 other University alumni to the sponsor group.

McLaughlin is president of the Homestake Mining Company and director of three other mining concerns. He received A. M. and Ph. D. degrees from the University in 1915 and 1917 and was professor of Mining Engineering here from 1925 to 1935. From 1930 to 1941, he was chairman of the Division of Geological Sciences.

Purpose of the Foundation, whose creation was announced January 13, is to provide funds for student housing, research, and scholarships in the graduate schools of Arts and Sciences, Design, Education, Engineering, and Public Administration.

Asks Alumni Aid

The new chairman yesterday called on all alumni to help the Foundation and "accept the challenge that inflation and the advancement of knowledge have flung at the Harvard Graduate Schools."

"Funds for research at Harvard are not sufficient for the work that should be done," McLaughlin said.

"For the most part, these funds come from endowment, where income is fixed, producing the same number of dollars as in pre-war years, but not buying the same value."

The Foundation recently opened up a Development Office in New York City in addition to central offices in Cambridge.