Candace R. Corvey, acting director of Research Administrations, is expected soon to become permanent director, Harvard official said recently.

Corvey moved up the ladder tow weeks ago form her post as Director of Financial Services in the Office of Sponsored Research when former Director A. Simone Reagor became Administrative Dean of the Law School.

Corvey said yesterday that so far she has devoted most of her attention to the demand by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) that Harvard return $18 million it claims the University overcharged the government for federally funded research.

Harvard currently receives more funding from HHS than from any other government agency, Corvey said, adding that she could offer no further comment on the case until after University lawyers appeal the charge sometime before October 19.

Corvey's responsibilities have included coordination of activities in the Office of Patents, Copyrights and Licensing. These offices, she said, aid the faculty in both obtaining grants for research and "protecting the fruits of their research."

For example, the Office of Sponsored Research, she said, acts as a go-between for professors and potential sponsors, the biggest of which is the U.S. federal government, which funded $110 million Harvard projects over the last fiscal year.

Close to 80 percent of federal funding goes toward biomedical research conducted in the Medical School, the School of Public Health or by members of the Faculty, she added.

In recent months the Office of Sponsored Research has worked to reduce for researchers the burden of recording time spent of federally funded projects, Covery said. She added that the University agreed to settle for less grant money in exchange for less paperwork for professors.

Corvey came to the University in January of 1981 to work as a financial analyst for Administrative Vice President Robert H. Scott when he was Associate Director of Financial Systems.

By November of 1982 she had moved to the position under Reagor where, according to Reagor, the two worked closely until last month.