Nathan M. Pusey '28 will head the Andrew Mellon Foundation after stepping down as President of Harvard next June.

Paul Mellon, speaking for the foundation's six trustees, announced in New York yesterday that Pusey will take office as the Foundation's president sometime next Fall.

Pusey-himself a trustee of the foundation-seemed both excited and surprised. "I haven't had much time to think about it," he said last night. "I had not really thought seriously of being the foundation's operating head. But I think it's an opportunity to follow the interests which I've been pursuing in education."

In an earlier statement, Pusey had said, "In accepting this new responsibility I hope that I can make a personal contribution to the enhancement of new ventures in education, in the arts and humanities, and in other areas of special interest."

"In this time of particular difficulty for most educational and philanthropic institutions, it is of critical importance to encourage quality and innovation with promise of enduring value for mankind."

Before becoming Harvard's President more than 17 years ago, Pusey served for nine years as president of Lawrence College in Appleton, Wisc. His successor at Harvard will not be announced until Jan. 4 at the earliest.

As president of the Mellon Foundation, Pusey will succeed Charles S. Hamilton, a former lawyer who is retiring from the post. Although Pusey's appointment has not been officially voted by the foundation, a spokesman said last night that the

?????????????????????????????????? wealthy industrialist who later became Secretary of the Treasury and U.S. Ambassador to Britain-awards grants in education, the arts, medicine, and other fields. It was created in 1968 by the merger of two older foundations-Avalon and Old Dominion-each of which had been endowed by one of Andrew Mellon's children: Ailsa Mellon Bruce and Paul Mellon.

The Mellon Foundation's total assets now exceed $600 million.

The foundation and its predecessors have been particularly helpful to colleges and universities. According to the annual report for 1969, the foundations donated more than 40 per cent of their total gifts-or $4.9 million-to education.

Harvard has been the recipient of one of the foundation's largest gifts. The University's. Hellenic ??Studies