News & Communications | Pressroom | Newsbreak | Publications | Services | Contact us | Search

Institute of Politics Announces 1999 Spring and Heffernan Fellows

CAMBRIDGE -- The 38th President of the United States, the former Governor of South Carolina, a former U.S. Senator from Arkansas, the current associate deputy attorney general for the U.S. Dept. of Justice, and a former attorney general for Minnesota, are among the fellows joining the Institute of Politics (IOP) as Spring 1999 fellows. In residence for the Spring semester will be: Gerald Ford, Heffernan Visiting Fellow, 38th President of the United States; Barbara Barrett, executive vice president of the International Women's Forum and Republican Candidate for Governor of Arizona in 1994; David Beasley, governor of South Carolina from 1995 to 1998; Hubert H. "Skip" Humphrey III, attorney general of Minnesota from 1983 to 1998 and the Democratic -Farmer Labor candidate for Governor of Minnesota in 1998; David Pryor, United States Senator from Arkansas from 1979 to 1996; Jonathan Schwartz, current associate deputy attorney general for the U.S. Department of Justice; William O. Taylor, chairman of the board and chief executive officer for the Globe Newspaper Company; and Myrth York, the first woman Democratic candidate for Governor of Rhode Island.
"The mission of the Institute of Politics is to endeavor to inspire young folks to become involved in politics, and this group is certainly inspirational," said IOP Director Al Simpson. "I eagerly look forward to the interaction that will take place in the classrooms, the offices and the halls among our students, our fellows, and an old friend from his Wyoming days, Gerry Ford. Dave Pryor and I came to the U.S. Senate together and we'll see if we can stir up a little debate as in days of yore! It promises to be an outstanding semester for us all."

The Fellows will introduce themselves and participate in a panel discussion on "Personal Perspectives on Politics" at 6:00 p.m., Tuesday, February 16 in the ARCO Forum of Public Affairs. The public is invited to attend.

The Institute of Politics, located in the John F. Kennedy School of Government, was founded in 1966 to encourage undergraduate student interest in the dynamics of politics and to increase understanding and cooperation between the academic community and the political world.

About the Fellows

Gerald Ford, 38th President of the United States, will be in residence March 16th and 17th, as an Elizabeth B. and Dennis B. Heffernan Visiting Fellow. Ford served as Vice President from 1973-1974 and then assumed the Presidency after the resignation of Richard Nixon in 1974. Prior to his Vice Presidency, President Ford was a member of the United States Congress from Michigan from 1949-1973. Following his term as President, President Ford has been active on behalf of the Republican Party and charitable causes, serves on corporate boards, and speaks frequently before a variety of audiences.

Barbara Barrett, executive vice president of the International Women's Forum since 1997, was a Republican Candidate for Governor of Arizona in 1994 - the first woman to ever run for that office in the state. In 1996, she was the Arizona Campaign Chair for Steve Forbes for President. She has previously served as chair of the U.S. Secretary of Commerce National Conference on Export and International Policy, as a member of President Reagan's Advisory Committee on Trade Negotiations, and as an advisor to Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney. She was deputy administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration from 1988 to1989 - the first woman to hold that position - and president and CEO of the American Management Association from 1997 to 1998. She is an International Business and Aviation Lawyer, and president and chief executive officer of Triple Creek Guest Ranch, in Darby, Montana.
Barbara Barrett received her B.A. in Political Science, her Masters in Public Administration, and her J.D. from Arizona State University.

David Beasley served as Governor of South Carolina from 1995 to 1998 and chaired the Republican Governor's Association from 1997 to 1998. As a 20-year-old college student, he ran for the South Carolina House of Representatives, won the election, and was a representative from 1979 to 1992. During his thirteen years in the South Carolina legislature, Governor Beasley served as majority whip and House Speaker Pro Tempore - the youngest person to reach those posts in the United States. In the South Carolina House, Beasley was also chairman of the Education and Public Works Committee, chairman of the Joint Legislative Study Committee on Education, and vice-chairman of the Joint Legislative Committee on Children. He served on the South Carolina Mining Council and on the South Carolina Board of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, as well as many other community, civic, and statewide committees.
David Beasley has a J.D. from the University of South Carolina School of Law.

Hubert H. "Skip" Humphrey III served as attorney general of Minnesota from 1983 to 1998 and was the Democratic -Farmer Labor candidate for Governor of Minnesota in 1998. He served as president of the National Association of Attorneys General from 1993 to1994, as senator in the Minnesota State Senate from 1972 to 1982, and as a lawyer from 1970 to 1982. Humphrey was also chair of the Minnesota Drug Abuse Resistance Education Program and founder of the Partnership for a Drug Free Minnesota. He currently serves on the President's Council on Sustainable Development. In 1996 he received the Policy Maker of the Year award from the Minnesota Organization on Adolescent Pregnancy, Prevention, and Parenting. Since 1986 Humphrey has been the attorney general with the highest re-election totals in the state's political history and was the first attorney general in the nation to bring an antitrust and consumer fraud lawsuit against the tobacco industry. He also developed the most comprehensive child support initiative in the state as well as created one of the first DNA labs in the nation to assist in fighting crime.
Skip Humphrey received his B.A. in Political Science from American University in 1965 and his J.D. from the University of Minnesota Law School in 1969.

David Pryor served as a United States Senator from Arkansas from 1979 to 1996. During that time he was secretary of the Democratic Conference, third in the Senate Democratic Leadership and was a member of the Senate Democratic Steering Committee. Pryor's first committee assignment in the U.S. Senate was the Committee on Agriculture, where he served as chairman of the Agriculture Subcommittee on Agricultural Production and Stabilization of Prices. He served on and chaired the Senate Special Committee on Aging, and chaired the 1995 White House Conference on Aging. Pryor also served on the Senate Finance Committee, the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee, and chaired the Committee's Subcommittee on Federal Service, Civil Service, and Post Office. In addition to his career in the U.S. Senate, Pryor was governor of Arkansas from 1974 to 1978. In 1960 he was first elected to the Arkansas State House of Representatives where he served three terms. Since his retirement from the Senate, Pryor has become a Fulbright Distinguished Fellow of Law and Public Affairs at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville and serves as a consultant to businesses.
David Pryor received his L.L.B. from the University of Arkansas School of Law in 1964 and his B.A. from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville in 1957.

Jonathan Schwartz is currently Associate Deputy Attorney General for the U.S. Department of Justice. He was the coordinator of a number of issues between the Justice Department and the Office of Independent Counsel Kenneth W. Starr. His primary focus was the impact of the decision by Starr's office to compel the testimony of Secret Service agents and officers. Schwartz also coordinates the Department's Nazi-Gold related activities and serves on the five person Capital Case Review Committee which recommends on a case by case basis whether federal prosecutors should be authorized to seek the death penalty against federal defendants. He also directs the Department's response to state ballot initiatives to legalize marijuana for medical purposes. From 1991 to 1995, Schwartz was an attorney in the United States Attorney's Office, Southern District of New York. Prior to joining the U.S. Attorney's Office in New York, he served as a law clerk to Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall.
Jonathan Schwartz has a B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania, a J.D. from Stanford Law School and a Masters in Philosophy in International Relations from Cambridge University.

William O. Taylor is chairman of the board and chief executive officer for the Globe Newspaper Company. After serving two years in the U.S. Army, Taylor joined The Boston Globe in 1956 and became publisher in 1978. He is also a director of The New York Times Company. Among his many affiliations and community activities, Taylor is the director of the Boston Adult Literacy Fund, president of the Board of Trustees of the Boston Public Library, and a trustee of Connecticut College. He is also the director of the United Way of America, director of the Center for Foreign Journalists, director of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, and a trustee of the International Crisis Group. He holds numerous honorary degrees for his work in journalism.
William Taylor received his B.A. from Harvard University in 1954.

Myrth York was the first woman Democratic candidate for Governor of Rhode Island and the first person to defeat an incumbent governor in a primary election in that state. She served in the Rhode Island State Senate from 1991 to 1994 during which time she was a member of the Senate Corporations Committee and in her second term was the Chair of the Senate Health, Education and Welfare Committee - the first woman to hold that position. York was also a member of the Minority Business Enterprise Commission and the Permanent Legislative Oversight Committee on the Department of Children, Youth and Families. She is an attorney, who is also an Officer and Director of York Resources, Inc. - a family owned investment company. In 1974 she joined Rhode Island Legal Services working as a staff attorney and then as director of the Domestic Relations Unit. York currently serves on the Board of Directors of Amos House - a soup kitchen and shelter - Vocational Resources, Inc.; the Nature Conservancy and the national board of Clean Water Action.
Myrth York earned her B.A. from the University of Denver and received both a J.D. and a Master of Laws in Taxation from Boston University School of Law.