De Long, who said he has worked with Summers, is a possible candidate for a Treasury post, and Assistant Professor of Economics John V. Leahy is also a rumored candidate for a Washington post.

In fact, the style of the three fits in well with the somewhat technocratic, efficient and educated image the Clinton camp has projected in the past, Mankiw said, although he did not accept the characterization "policy wonk."

"They're all kind of mainstream, with a common sense view of the world," he said. "They're all terrific economists ... practical, empirically oriented."

Though Mankiw says the three economists cannot be characterized as "liberals," Government Department Chair Susan J. Pharr says it is possible to discern a certain party leaning in the patterns of departure.

"I suppose the Republicans may draw more heavily from the Law School and Business School and Democratic administrations from the Kennedy School and FAS," she said..

So far, five FAS professors have been named or rumored for posts. Dillon Professor of International Affairs Joseph S. Nye will serve as chair of the National Intelligence Council of the Central Intelligence Agency.

Pharr said she expects no more losses from the Government Department after Nye departs, and she promises his return in the spring of 1995.

Economics Department professors are particularly concerned about the losses of their colleagues, said Professor of Economics Robert J. Barrow.

"I think it's terrible," he said.

But department Chair Benjamin M. Friedman, Maier professor of political economy, said economics offerings will not suffer from the loss of professors.

"There will be no interruption in the teaching program," he said. He said he does not know when the nominated professors will leave or how long they will stay away from Harvard. The University has a strict two-year limit on leaves of absence.

Law School

The Law School has already seen one tenured professor move on to the Clinton administration--with less-than-lukewarm indications of returning--and may lose another renowned scholar in Tyler Professor of Constitutional Law Laurence H. Tribe '62.

Professor of Law Christopher E. Edley Jr. said this week has taken a leave of absence to serve as associate director of the Office of Management and Budget, and said Wednesday he may not return to Harvard when his two-year term expires.

Edley, a scholar of administrative law and one of the three tenured Black professors at the Law School, has been dissatisfied with the progress made towards diversifying the faculty.