Harvard will be among five universities to receive generous grants from the Donner Foundation for endowing professorships in the sciences, Robert A. Maes, executive vice-president of the organization, announced yesterday.

Yale, Princeton, M.I.T., and Pennsylvania will be the other recipients. The gifts will total $500,000 apiece, and will be used to endow a Donner Chair of Science at each of the Universities.

Maes pointed out that this represents one of the few occasions when foundation funds have been awarded for endowed chairs rather than for buildings, equipment, scholarships, or projects.

President Pusey stated last night that "Harvard is proud, delighted and grateful" to have been selected as one of the recipients of the Donner grants.

"This gift, it seems to me, has a two fold significance," Mr. Pusey said. "It provides substantial funds to reinforce the national effort in basic scientific research and teaching at a time when this is badly needd, and it also recognizes a new principle in educational philanthropy--that sizable funds for capital, as well as the more familiar short-term grants for specific purposes, must be made available to our colleges if they are to continue responding effectively to the demands of our society."

The Donner Foundation expects that income from the grants will provide a $20,000 salary to the person selected to fill the position at each of the universities. However, at the current interest figure on similar Harvard endowments, the income here may come to nearly $25,000. University professorships are also based on a $500,000 endowment.

The grants will be payable over a five-year period. The initial installment was turned over to Gaylord P. Harnwell, president of the University of Pennsylvania, representing the recipients.

Acting President J.A. Stratton of M.I.T. appeared to be particularly gratified by the fact that the grant was ear-marked for work in the sciences. He called it "a just recognition of an area of human knowledge which for too long has been delegated to a role second to that of the arts."