Harvard has begun a drive to raise up to $20 million to invigorate its program in electrical engineering, a field which officials say has long been neglected at the University despite its increasing importance.

The officials said the funds should allow both the construction of research laboratories and the endowment of as many as five new professorships in the field over a period of about five years.

Electrical engineering--the study and development of high technology relating to computers and communications equipment--is currently offered as a small program for some 80 students within the Division of Applied Sciences.

But the engineering science, closely related to physics and computer science, is considered a key to successful innovation in everything from robotics to satellites, and officials said Harvard cannot afford to downplay the science any longer.

Although Harvard has played a major role in constructing the foundations for engineering technology over the past 30 years, it has not kept abreast of work done at other major universities and in the private sector, professors said. They added that as a result, students presently cannot receive adequate exposure to the field at this University.

The fund drive and a concurrent reorganization of the field, formally called electrical computer and systems engineering, has not been formally announced. It comes, however, as the latest step in a multiyear effort to bolster the entire Applied Sciences division.

In addition, Harvard has spent millions of dollars in recent years to upgrade its facilities in biology, chemistry and material physics.

Not a Good Idea

"If you compare what is going on in the world and what is happening here, it is clear that this area is underdeveloped. It's the result of past choices, and it's just not a good idea," said Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences A. Michael Spence.

"It would not be wise to go for the next 30 years without offering interesting opportunities in these areas. I would be worried if we had to explain to students 'you can get this type of education and exposure at other places, but you won't get it here,"' Spence said.

"This [fund drive] is a recognition that a large part of everyday life, intellectual problems and activities are under-represented here," said Paul C. Martin '52, dean of the Division of Applied Sciences.

Spence said raising funds for electrical engineering "have now become a priority" for the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, and, according to officials, he emphasized the need for a new program at a recent fundraising dinner.

President Derek C. Bok, a member of the seven-man governing Corporation which would will have to approve any such fund drive, said he thinks the Corporation will be receptive to Spence's effort.

"For historical reasons connected with our proximity to MIT, we have not had this type of [program] in scope," Bok said. "But some developments in the field, including the intellectual challenge, have assumed sufficient importance that we ought to start doing something" with electrical engineering, he said.

Down Memorial Drive, MIT has some 130 faculty members in electrical engineering and has already purchased or arranged use of much of the necessary equipment. Officials said Harvard has no intention of directly competing with such large operations, but they said this demonstrates how far ahead some other universities have advanced.