Kenneth J. Arrow, one of this country's leading economic theorists, will become Professor of Economics in the fall of 1968, Dean Ford announced yesterday.

Arrow will come to Harvard from Stanford University, where he has been a member of the faculty since 1949 and a professor since 1953.

Richard E. Caves, professor of Economics and chairman of the department, commented, "It's hard to think of any other appointment that would do as much to strengthen the department."

"Harvard has long excelled in applied economics; the selection of Professor Arrow, a theorist of major stature and considerable originality, will bring Harvard to the front in economic theory as well," Caves added.

Arrow will teach a wide range of courses, mostly at the graduate level, on subjects of both a theoretical and a practical nature. Much of his previous research has centered on mathematical analysis of inventory and production problems.

Included among Arrow's well known works are Social Choice and Individual Value, Studies in Linear and Non-Linear Programming, and Aspects of the Theory of Risk-Bearing. He also co-edited Mathematical Models in the Social Sciences and has done research in such diverse fields as education and medical economic theory.

Rough For Stanford

Thomas C. Schelling, professor of Economics, said of the appointment, "This is a brilliant selection and will be a terrible blow to Stanford. We're thrilled to have him."

Arrow, who is 46 years old, is a native of New York City. He graduated from City College of New York in 1940, and received a Ph.D. from Columbia in 1951. He served for three years on the Cowles Commission for Research in Economics and taught for a year at the University of Chicago before he went to Stanford.

In 1962 and 1963 Arrow served on the United States Government Council of Economic Advisors.