Richard E. Neustadt, whose book Presidential Power influenced John F. Kennedy's conception of the Presidency, will join the Harvard Faculty February 1 as associate dean of the Graduate School of Public Administration and professor of Government.

In announcing Neustadt's appointment, President Pusey said yesterday he hoped Neustadt would become the first director of the Institute of Politics which is to be established in conjunction with the Kennedy Memorial Library.

Neustadt, a professor of Government at Columbia University, has been an adviser to Democratic presidents since 1946. He was especially close to President Kennedy, whom he served in the White House during the transition from Republican to Democratic rule in 1961.

Pusey said yesterday that the Institute will be a part of the Graduate School of Public Administration and will have an endowment of $10 million. He described it as "a new kind of institution in American life within a University setting, which will furnish a meeting place for scholars and for individuals pursuing careers in practical politics and public service."

Although Neustadt's appointment takes effect next month, he will not take up residence in Cambridge until next fall. He plans to devote the Spring term to travel and discussion of the Institute, which he will be responsible for shaping.

The 45-year-old Neustadt has been on the faculty of Columbia since 1954. He is a consultant to President Johnson and to the Bureau of the Budget, the State Department, and the Atomic Energy Commission. Neustadt was graduated from the University of California at Berkeley in 1939 and received the M.A. in 1941 and the Ph.D. in 1951 from Harvard.

Pusey sketched the proposed Institute to the Board of Overseers yesterday. He said that millions saw in President Kennedy "a gifted young man of courage and intelligence, who relished the life of a politician as fully as any, but who at the same time was happily at home in the world of intellect within a university."

Because of Kennedy's "capacity to draw together these two worlds," Pusey continued, "members of his family with friends and associates decided that an institute or center of politics should be established in his name."

Pusey said the Institute will hold conferences on major public issues and give in public life an opportunity to reflect on their experiences, write and lecture.