"I totally can't believe it. I feel like I've been screwed," said one junior government concentrator who passed up Hoffmann and Broz, hoping to absorb Nye's first-hand knowledge of foreign policy this year.

Another concentrator, Joel J. Radtke '96, said last spring that Nye gave inspiring lectures that were "actually, unbelievably, fun."

"I feel really lucky to have taken A-12 when I did," Radtke said. "His absence really put a crimp in some people's curriculum."

But Nye said his absence allows A-12 students to have the best of both worlds. Now they can read Nye's book, Understanding International Conflict, based on his A-12 lectures, while being taught in class by another professor.

"They get two for one while I'm gone," he said. "They can have all my ideas at home and someone's else's ideas in the classroom. It's a great situation for A-12 students."

Last March, Nye also said he would teach courses on American foreign policy and ethics and international politics, as well as a government department junior seminar, when he returned.

Despite his resignation, Nye said he plans to re-join Harvard's faculty in a few years, "if they'll have me."

"And if I do return, I'll have a deeper knowledge of what it's like to make policy. That will eventually translate into my teaching and writing," Nye said.

Nye can apply for re-appointment at anytime. And if Pharr has her way, the intelligence expert will be back soon.

"It's certainly never automatic that a professor who has relinquished tenure will be invited to return, but considering what a superb, outstanding scholar Professor Nye is, I personally would strongly support him," Pharr said.

"We'll go on without him, but Professor Nye's departure is a significant loss to our department," she added.

Dean of the Faculty Jeremy R. Knowles said he remains committed to Harvard's tradition of supporting its faculty if they choose to pursue public service. But he lamented the loss of Nye.

"I am delighted for the country, I am pleased for Professor Nye," he said last night, "but I am miserable for Harvard.