David D. Perkins '51, professor of English and American Literature, will become chairman of the English Department on January 1, 1976, the department announced Sunday.

Alan E. Heimert '49, Cabot Professor of American Literature, who has chaired the department for the last three and a half years, will remain the department's head tutor and director of undergraduate studies.

Dean Rosovsky said Sunday he selected Perkins to fill the chairmanship after consulting with the English faculty because, "he seemed the best choice."

Faculty chairmanships normally rotate every few years, he said.

"Relatively Good Shape"

Perkins said he does not expect to make many changes in the department. "I think the department is in relatively good shape," he said, adding, "The last few years have seen some major changes. The department should have time to digest and evaluate them before making any more."

Three recent changes Perkins said he feels are especially significant are the creation of separate concentration programs for undergraduates, changes in English 10, "The Tradition of English Literature," and the introduction of small seminar courses.

Approves of Change

Perkins said that so far he approves of the changes. He expects the department will be alert in the future to criticisms, particularly to those coming from Dean Rosovsky's task forces studying undergraduate education.

Perkins, 47 years old, has been on the English faculty since 1957. He received a bachelor's degree from Harvard in 1951 and a Harvard Ph.D. in 1957.

He will soon publish his fourth book, the first volume of "A History of Modern Poetry in England and America" which he has been working on since 1967. Each volume of the history will be over 700 pages long.

Early Works

His other books are "The Quest for Permanence: the Symbolism of Wordsworth, Shelley, and Keats" (1959), "Wordsworth and the Poetry of Sincerity" (1964), and "English Romantic Writers" (1967).

Perkins teaches English 161, "The Modern Period," with Robert J. Kiely, English 164, "The Development of Modern Poetry 1890-1939," and a proseminar, English 198a, "Poetic Style." All his courses are open to undergraduates.