Richard N. Cooper, Undersecretary of State for Economics Affairs in the Carter Administration, will become the first Boas Professor of International Economics beginning this spring, University officials have announced.

A former provost and professor at Yale, Cooper will hold a joint appointment in the Center for International Affairs (CFIA) and the Economics Department.

Samuel P. Huntington, Thomson Professor of Government and Director of the CFIA yesterday called Cooper, who has been in the State Department since 1977, a "major addition to the center in international affairs issues." The top choice of a panel of "experts" consulted about the appointment, Cooper has a "broad range of interests" which make him ideal for the chair, he added.

Cooper said yesterday he had been hoping for a long time to join the Harvard faculty. He added he plans to participate in a graduate seminar on international trade as well as teaching an unspecified undergraduate course.

Cooper said although he was unsure of his total work schedule at Harvard, he thought in addition to teaching he would be advising Ph.D candidates and working on a book about energy issues.

President Bok said last May the establishment of the new Boas chair, endowed by Frank Boas '51 in memory of his late father, and Cooper's appointment would "strengthen research and teaching in the crucial area of international economics."

"Human Issues"

Huntington said the new professorship would at the same time "help round out the (CFIA's) research capability, which in recent years has been rather heavily weighted on the political side. This is terribly important in an era of growing interdependence, when economic and political factors are so closely intermingled."

Cooper said his State Department past has involved him "centrally or peripherally in everything in foreign affairs except SALT and the release of the hostages in Iran." Most recently, Cooper added, he has been working on economic sanctions of the Soviet Union.

So far, Cooper is the only Carter administration official who has announced plans to teach at Harvard.