Richard Wendorf, librarian of Houghton Library, has been named the director and librarian of the Boston Athenaeum, a cultural center housing a book collection and art gallery.

Wendorf, who has overseen Houghton's collection of rare books for seven years, will assume his new position in February.

He was selected to head the library from a pool of about 70 candidates, according to Athenaeum representatives.

"He is a very distinguished scholar, a great head of the library," said Pforzheimer University Professor Sidney Verba '53, the director of the University Library.

"We are really sorry to see him go," he added.

Verba said Wendorf, a specialist in both literature and fine arts, was "perfect" to direct Houghton, with its holdings of both visual and book collections.

Wendorf is the author of The Elements of Life, a work exploring the similarities between portrait painting and biography in Stuart and Georgian England.

While at Harvard, Wendorf also served as a senior lecturer on the fine arts and as acting librarian of the Fine Arts Library.

Wendorf said he hopes to oversee the completion of renovations on Houghton's reading room and the addition of Houghton's card catalog to the Hollis computer database before he leaves Harvard.