Institute of Politics Names Six Fall Resident Fellows

The Institute of Politics announced on Thursday its fall class of resident and visiting fellows, which will include Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Wendy R. Sherman and longtime CNN anchor Candy A. Crowley.

The six resident fellows—former Assistant to the Secretary of Defense Brent Colburn, Crowley, former Republican National Committee communications director Doug Heye, former South African opposition leader Lindiwe Mazibuko, Sherman, and former Mesa, Ariz., mayor Scott Smith—will join the IOP in September to host study groups and office hours for students. Sherman, a top negotiator in the recently announced nuclear deal with Iran, will also serve as a senior fellow at the Kennedy School of Government’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs during her time on campus.

Eric R. Andersen, the director of the IOP’s fellows and study groups program, highlighted Mazibuko and Sherman’s international experience as a diversifying aspect of this semester’s slate of fellows.

“In different ways and in different degrees, what we have here is a collection of leaders…whether it be in public affairs, journalism, serving as an officeholder, [or] as a diplomat,” Andersen said.

While the topics of the study groups are still under development, Andersen said they would draw from the fellows’ practical and professional expertise. Smith, for instance, will likely focus on leadership and government innovation at the local level, and Mazibuko could offer an opportunity for students to understand the South African parliamentary system, Andersen said.

“We’re going to focus on government that works,” said Smith, who is also a former president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors. “In today’s world, we see gridlock, we see overall dissatisfaction with government, except at the city level—mayors are getting things done, and that’s unfortunately sort of unique in today’s world.”

Smith also said he hoped to share with students his unique perspective as someone who entered the political sphere later in life, given his career as an accountant and real estate home-builder before serving as a mayor.

Heye, who also served as deputy chief of staff for former U.S. House Majority Leader Eric I. Cantor, said he was developing a supplemental workshop for his crisis communications study group. After spending several sessions examining how political flashpoints in the past have been managed, students will handle their own simulated crises.

Also joining the IOP in the fall are two visiting fellows, former Obama pollster Cornell Belcher and former New York Daily News Washington Bureau Chief Thomas M. DeFrank.

Unlike resident fellows, who are selected by IOP staff and its undergraduate student advisory committee in a competitive application process every semester, visiting fellows are selected by invitation and generally spend only a few days on campus, according to Andersen.