After 14 years as a subsitute parent for 1600 first-year students each year, Dean of Freshmen Henry C. Moses said yesterday he will leave Harvard next fall to become headmaster of a private school in New York City.

"I'm leaving Harvard because I've found a great opportunity." Moses said last night, confirming that he had accepted the job as head of the Trinity School. "I've had 14 wonderful years here and I think it's time to move on.

A search for Moses' successor will not begin until Dean of the College L. Fred Jewett '57 returns to campus at the end of this month, Moses said.

Trinity, a private day school founded in 1709, started looking for a new head last spring, after current headmaster Christopher Berrisford '62 decided to step down from his post.

School officials said they selected Moses from a pool of about 70 applicants and ultimately settled on the Harvard dean for a combination of personal qualities.

"We chose him for his absolute integrity, his obvious love of teaching, and his ability to relate," said Blaine Fogg '65, who was co-chair of the Trinity search committee. "It was a unanimous decision."

"He was a person who people felt extremely comfortable with," said Douglas T. Tansill '63, president of the school's board. He said the committee was "enormously impressed" by Moses.

In a letter to Trinity affiliates, Tansil described Moses as "an educator with the vision, energy intelligence and human qualities...necessary to lead the school."

Berrisford, who has been the school's headmaster for four years, said he and the board mutually agreed on his departure last year.

"We just decided it was a good idea. It was time," Berrisford said, adding that he has not yet made any plans for next year.

Tansill said he was confident that Moses would have no problems with the transition from a college to a secondary school. Noting that many Trinity students go to Harvard and other similar schools when they graduate, Moses said he did not expect any major problems as a result of the change.

But Moses said he plans to take his time becoming familiar with his new school. "I think I'll take a little time to learn what Trinity is before I think of what I'll do," he said.

He added that many of the lessons he has learned at Harvard will likely apply to the new job as well. "I've learned that consultation with people who will eventually be affected by your decisions is essential."

In addition to his administrative duties, Moses lectured on American literature at Harvard from 1980 to 1984. He also wrote a book entitled inside College: New Freedom, New Responsibilities, which was published last year by the College Board.

Before coming to Harvard, Moses graduated from Princeton University in 1963, and received a Ph.D. in English from Cornell University in 1968.