Gro Harlem Brundtland, the prime minister of Norway, will be the featured speaker at Harvard's Commencement ceremonies this spring.

Brundtland, a world leader on environmental matters, is expected to talk to the June 4 gathering of graduates about balancing economic growth and ecological well-being. She will come to Cambridge from an international Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

"She's a person that's been thought about for a long time," said John P. Reardon Jr. '60, executive director of the Alumni Association. Reardon called Brundtland "a catalyst, a mover on environmental issues."

Yesterday's announcement of an environmentalist commencement speaker comes on the heels of the recent formation of a University-wide Committee on Environmental Studies, signaling to some observers a new committment to these issues.

Brundtland, a graduate of the School of Public Health, is chair of the World Commission on Environment and Development and helped develop the group's "Our Common Future" report, which called for developmentthat would be environmentally sound.

She was elected as Norway's first woman primeminister in 1981 at age 42, making her theyoungest person ever to hold the post. She iscurrently serving as prime minister for the thirdtime.

Harvard has traditionally invited heads ofstate to speak at Commencement. In recent years,speakers have included German Prime MinisterHelmut Kohl and Pakistani leader Benazir P. Bhutto'73.

University Marshal Richard M. Hunt calledBrundtland "a figure highly respected in theinternational community." Last fall, she wasconsidered a leading candidate for secretarygeneral of the United Nations.

Brundtland, 52, is leader of Norway's Laborparty and vice president of the SocialistInternational.

She graduated from the School of Public Healthin 1965 after finishing medical school in Norway.

"I think she will have something important tosay and will say it well," said Hunt, who is incharge of the Commencement ceremonies