Robert E. Rubin '60, co-chair of Goldman, Sachs & Co. and a director of Harvard Management Company (HMC), was named yesterday to head President-elect Bill Clinton's new National Economic Council (NEC).

And sources close to the Clinton transition team said yesterday that Kennedy School of Government Lecturer Robert B. Reich--a close friend of Clinton and the transition team's chief adviser on economic policy--will be named secretary of labor today.

Reich was earlier considered a top contender to head either the NEC or the Council of Economic Advisors (CEA). But the sources said that Reich preferred a Cabinet post over an advisory level position.

Ropes Professor of Political Economy Lawrence H. Summers, who is currently on leave from Harvard while he serves as chief economist for the World Bank, was also considered a leading candidate to head the CEA.

But sources said yesterday that University of California at Berkeley economist Laura D'Andrea Tyson is Clinton's choice for the post.

One source close to the transition team said that Summers' appointment to lead the CEA had been blocked for a number of reasons. But the source said that Summers would "probablyget a very, very high post."

Some analysts are predicting that the CEA willhave less power in the Clinton administration thanin the past.

But asked yesterday whether he intended tolower the council's authority or influence,Clinton answered with "a resounding no," addingthat the group may focus more on ideas than onpolicy.

In his first round of appointments tohigh-level government positions, Clinton alsonamed Senate Finance Committee Chair Lloyd Bentsen(D-Tex.) as Treasury Secretary, and House BudgetCommittee Chair Leon E. Panetta (D-Calif.) asbudget director.

Clinton named investment banker Roger Altman asBentsen's top assistant and former CongressionalBudget Office Director Alice M. Rivlin asPanetta's deputy.

High Praise for Rubin

In addition to his roles at Goldman Sachs andHarvard, Rubin is a director of the New York StockExchange and a member of a Securities and ExchangeCommission committee.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Rubinearned more than $15 million last year and hascontributed to the campaigns of both Clinton andBentsen.

Besides Rubin's HMC post, the long-timeDemocratic activist's Harvard ties includemembership on the Committee on UniversityResources and the Visiting Committee to theEconomics Department.

A summa cum laude graduate in economics and agraduate of Yale Law School, Rubin ran for aposition on Harvard's Board of Overseers lastspring but lost that election.

Harvard Vice President for Finance Robert H.Scott yesterday lauded Rubin as a strong choice,saying he had "absolutely the highest regard forhim."