One of the University's most famous scholars, James Q. Wilson, may leave Harvard in three years because of an unusual tenure offer from the University of California at Los Angeles.

Wilson, Shattuck Professor of Government, has been given a tenured position by the California school. But in a rare move, Harvard has allowed him to retain his Harvard chair for the next three years, during which time Wilson will split his time between the two schools.

At the end of the third year, Wilson said yesterday, he will choose between the two universities. "We're going to see how it works out, he said.

Wilson, age 53, is one of the most prominent political scientists in the country. He has written prolifically on topics such as city politics, bureaucracy, law enforcement and crime--both in scholarly works and more popular publications like Commentary.

Although Wilson dislikes the [abe], he is referred to as a neo-conservative, often by critics who cite what they call his hard line positions on issues like crime prevention. He is well known in that field for advocating deterrents for stopping crime.

No Details

Officials at UCLA yesterday confirmed Wilson's appointment but refused to discuss the details until it is approved by the University's Board of Regents later this week.

Wilson is a distinguished political scientist and certainly one of the finest of his generation," said Chairman of the UCLA Political Science Department, Richard Sissen. "His work has been extremely influential in the field, and in terms of public policy the things he writes command respect."

Wilson said his reasons for accepting the UCLA offer were personal and declined to elaborate other than to say that he was looking forward to returning to his native California.

He said the deal had been in the works for much of the spring adding. "They came to me and made me an offer I couldn't refuse." He refused to discuss the terms of that offer.

Although the UCLA appointment begins this fall, Wilson said he would he teaching his full compliment of courses at least for the first semester, but that if everything is approved he would begin splitting his time between Cambridge and Low Angeles, spending one semester on each coast.

Unfortunate

Chairman of the Government Department Robert D. Putnam said the loss of Wilson, either partially or permanently, "is going to be unfortunate for the department because Wilson is obviously one of the country's most distinguished political scientists."

The department is currently looking for at least one and possibly more specialists in American politics, he added. He said the department had hoped to beef up in that area anyway, but Wilson's possible departure only made the need more compelling

Putnam said he hoped to have made at least one appointment, probably at the tenure level, within a year. Putnam added that as long as he remains at Harvard, even on a part-time basis. Wilson will retain his prestigious endowed chair