The transition from the Bush to Clinton administrations is causing an equal and opposite reaction at the Kennedy School of Government, as professors travel the Cambridge-Washington passage in both directions.

The Kennedy School, traditionally a haven for government policy-makers both past and future, could lose at least two more faculty members to the Clinton team, which already includes former lecturer Robert B. Reich as Labor Secretary.

Secretary of Defense Les Aspin has tapped Ford Foundation Professor of International Security Ashton B. Carter for a new position, assistant secretary of defense for nuclear security and counter proliferation, but President Clinton must approve the appointment.

Dillon Professor of Government Graham T. Allison '62, a former dean of the Kennedy School, is also rumored to be a candidate for a Defense Department appointment. And more Kennedy School faculty may be on their way to Washington soon.

In the other direction, Roger B. Porter, who served as President Bush's assistant for economic and domestic policy, will return to the school this semester as the IBM Professor of Business and Government after a four-year hiatus. And Porter will not likely be the lone Republican defector to the school.

Carter is currently director of the Kennedy School's Center for Science and International Affairs and has worked on issues of nuclear proliferation, focusing on weapons in the former Soviet Union.

He has often acted as a consultant in Washington, and has worked in the past with Aspin, former chair of the House Armed Services Committee.

Allison is a possible candidate to head policy planning in the Defense Department, according to media reports. He also has worked extensively as a consultant, especially in the former Soviet Union on reforming the Russian economy.

He spends much of his time running the Kennedy School program on strengthening democratic institutions. He is also director of the Avoiding Nuclear War project at the school.

Porter will teach a course on federal policy development this term, and said yesterday he is happy to return to the Kennedy School.

"I'm delighted to be returning to teaching and research about economic policy at an institution whose faculty and students are intensely interested in these issues," he said.

Kennedy School spokesperson Steve Singer said the school expects a few more former members of the Bush Administration to join the faculty but was cautious about making specific predictions.

"We'll probably have some small shifts in the faculty with some members leaving the school to join the Clinton Administration and some Republicans leaving Washington for Cambridge," Singer said