"It will be a wonderful stage for him to do the kind of things he does well, which is run large, complicated organizations," Murphy said.

"I'm very sad for Harvard, but I can't fault UCLA's judgment," Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences Jeremy R. Knowles said in a fax.

"I think it's a great loss for Harvard and a great gain for UCLA," said Joseph S. Nye, who succeeded Carnesale in 1996 as dean of the Kennedy School of Government (KSG). "Carnesale is absolutely terrific. He did a great job at the Kennedy School, a fine job as provost, and we'll miss him."

"I was enjoying him at Harvard and thought he was having a major impact," said Dean of Students Archie C. Epps III.

Arms Control to Mass. Hall

Carnesale's Harvard career began in 1974, when he joined the faculty to oversee an arms control research project.

A nuclear engineer by training, the Bronx-born Carnesale's research and teaching focused on issues of nuclear weapons and national security policy.

After serving as Littauer professor of public policy and administration, and as academic dean of KSG from 1981 to 1991, Carnesale became dean in 1991, succeeding Robert D. Putnam, now Dillon professor of international affairs. He was appointed provost in 1995.

"He was a very successful dean at a time when the school needed strong leadership," Murphy said. "I thought he brought stability and direction to the school."

During Carnesale's tenure as provost, the central administration's budget grew at a rate slower than the inflation rate, leading many within the administration to consider him a spending hawk.

He also gained notoriety on campus this year when employee members of the Harvard Union of Clerical and Technical Workers. (HUCTW) marched in front of Massachusetts Hall, where Carnesale has his office, to protest benefit cuts for part-time workers. The protesters carried large pictures of Carnesale alongside picket signs.

The University and the union recently resolved the dispute, signing a contract extension that contained concessions to both sides.

As provost, Carnesale has played a major role in implementing Rudenstine's plans for linking previously distant parts of the University.

"He helped to implement Neil's idea of trying to get Harvard together more," Nye said.

To encourage cooperation among professors in different fields, Rudenstine and Carnesale created five "interfaculty initiatives," including programs to study schooling and children and ethics in the professions.