Three new fellows -- an economist, a lawyer, and a state legislator -- will join four returning fellows for 1997-98 public policy fellowships at the Radcliffe Public Policy Institute (RPPI).

Lourdes Beneria, the director of city and regional planning and women's studies at Cornell University; writer and lawyer Mona Harrington; and Massachusetts State Legislator Rachel Kaprielian will join the RPPI for the academic year '97-98.

While at Radcliffe College, Beneria will work on her book, Gender, Development and the Global Economy, Harrington will focus on two projects examining the politics of caretaking, and Kaprielian will pursue research on pension policies and obstacles in the public and private sectors to pension equity for women.

Returning RPPI fellows are Sara Chapman, a former college president and expert on the history of public discourse in the development of public policy; sociologist Lisa Dodson, whose book, And Still We Rise: The Lives of Women and Girls in Poor America, is forthcoming from Beacon Press; Wendy Kaminer, an attorney and author who writes about politics, law, and popular culture; and Sharland Trotter, a psychologist who is writing a book about intergenerational relationships.

"This year, as in the past, our fellowship program has attracted outstanding women who have made important contributions in a range of public policy areas," said Paula M. Rayman, director of RPPI. "With Lourdes Beneria, Mona Harrington, and Rachel Kaprielian on board, we will expand our research on such important issues as gender and the global economy, the politics of caretaking, and pension equity."

As part of their tenure at Radcliffe College, public policy fellows contribute to institute publications and give at least one presentation on their research. They work individually and collaboratively on public policy issues and have the opportunity to work with Harvard and Radcliffe undergraduate research partners.

The Radcliffe Public Policy Institute, established in 1994, works to engage women and men as full partners in shaping policy on important national, social, political, and economic issues. By bringing together different constituencies -- including business and labor people, policy makers, scholars, representatives of the media, and community organizations -- the institute creates new strategies and contributes effective solutions for selected public policy problems.