David W. Bailey 21, former Secretary to the Governing Boards, has returned to Harvard to aid in the selection of two new members of the Harvard Corporation.

Bailey, 70, retired in 1965 after twenty years as Secretary to the Corporation and the Board of Overseers, and is now Honorary Keeper of the Corporation Records.

Fellows R. Keith Kane '22, of New York City-the body's senior member-and William L. Marbury, of Baltimore, plan to retire during this academic year.

By the terms of Harvard's charter, which is part of the constitution of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the Corporation fills its own vacancies, although the Board of Overseers must approve each selection.

The President, the University Treasurer, and five Fellows constitute the Corporation, which is the University's chief executive board.

Informal

Bailey's new appointment is an "informal one," Sargeant Kennedy 28, the present Corporation Secretary, said Friday. He is expected to maintain his new office on the first floor of Massacrusetts Hall until the Corporation completes the choosing of its new members.

Won't Discuss It

Yesterday, Bailey refused to discuss the exact nature of his work. "I'm not the kind of person who issues statements," he said. An official University spokesman, however, has described his task as "helping to organize the materials for the search" for new Fellows.

Among the materials to be organized will be numerous letters from members of the University community recommending possible nominees to the Corporation.

Last month, the President and Fellows sent a letter to all professors, current and past members of the Board of Overseers, and hundreds of Alumni Directors, Class Secretaries, and the like, inviting "comments and suggestions" on the selection of new Fellows from "anyone who has the interest of the University at heart."

In selecting the new Fellows, the Corporation has said that it "would be particularly interested in suitable candidates between the ages of 35 and ?5," but that "promising younger men" would not be "overlooked."

Retiring

Kane and Marbury are retiring this year under an informal standing agreement that no member of the Corporation continue to serve past the age of seventy. Both will reach the age of retirement next summer.