A Harvard School of Public Health professor will soon be heading to Washington D. C. to advise President Bush about environmental and public safety issues such as climate control, handguns and chemical waste.

Bush announced yesterday that he intends to nominate John D. Graham, director of Harvard's Center for Risk Analysis, to the top post at the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs at the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).

Graham is known by the academic community as an expert in environmental risk assessment and cost-efficient solutions to overcoming environmental risk.

However Graham's nomination may arouse some controversy among more liberal environmental and gun-control groups.

"Graham has got a deep commitment to protecting the environment, but in a cost-efficient way," said Granger Morgan '63, who was Graham's PhD. advisor at Carnegie Mellon University. "Graham is conservative-bent, inclined towards heavy use of cost-benfit analysis and promoting market-based solutions."

Paul R. Portney, President of Resources for the Future, a Washington-based enviromental think tank, said "Graham's appointment will not be uncontroversial."

"Graham will have to strike a balance both within and outside the government between the forces who either favor or oppose regulations," he said.

Harvard University Provost Harvey V. Fineberg called Graham "a national leader in the field of risk analysis," in a press release announcing the news and "an excellent choice to head OMB Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs."