"Harvard has made significant contributions to the center, such as faculty salaries and building space," Bergson pointed out.

But crucial outside sources of support may have already changed their perceptions of the status of Soviet studies here. John J. Stremlau, assistant director of international relations for the Rockefeller Foundation, said many major academic donors now assume "that Harvard doesn't care about Soviet Studies."

The Rockefeller Foundation has indicated privately in recent months that it will give two American Soviet studies centers grants of $1 million each to bolster the struggling field, and Harvard professors said they will actively compete for a share of the money.

Crucial Grant

"We have a good chance of winning one of the grants," said Goldman, but he added, "If we don't win it, it shows we have fallen behind."

The Russian Research Center was founded in 1948 with a grant from the Ford Foundation. It rose to prominence in the discipline during the 1950s and 1960s, when the government and private organizations encouraged intensive research on the Soviet Union and its relations with the United States.

Goldman explained that since the mid-1960s a variety of factors have led to decreased support for Soviet studies, here and elsewhere. Among them is lessened fear of the Soviets and a related decline in interest in studying competition between the two super-powers, he said.

In addition, Goldman added, other regions of the world, including the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America have received increased attention from American scholars, drawing funds and manpower previously devoted to Soviet research.

Many major foundations, such as the Ford, have also diverted grant programs away from regional studies altogether and toward the study of domestic problems, Goldman said.

Columbia University this week received an unusual $1 million grant for Soviet studies from W. Averell Harriman, a former New York governor and ambassador to Moscow.

The gift was prompted by Harriman's concern for growing weaknesses in the field nationally, according to reports in The New York Times.

Goldman emphasized that Harvard desperately needs "someone to come along and do for us what Averell Harriman did for Columbia.