Campus & Community

IOP names fellows

7 min read

New Jersey’s Republican nominee for the U.S. Senate, Al Gore’s campaign manager, and the former governor of Puerto Rico are among the distinguished public servants who have been chosen for fellowships at the Institute of Politics (IOP) this spring.

Donna Brazile, campaign manager for Gore-Lieberman 2000; Ceci Connolly, a veteran political journalist for The Washington Post; Bob Franks, former U.S. Representative and Senate candidate from New Jersey; Phil Noble, a political consultant and Internet pioneer; Pedro Rossello, a physician and two-term governor of Puerto Rico; and Lionel Sosa, a campaign media adviser to George W. Bush, will spend the spring semester in residence at the Institute of Politics. The Institute has also named two visiting fellows for the spring: Seth Waxman, former U.S. solicitor general; and Sylvia Mathews, a senior Clinton administration official.

“This is an outstanding group of public servants,” IOP Director David Pryor said. “They’ve been on the cutting edge of politics and government, and we’re all very excited and honored that they will spend a semester here sharing their experiences with us.”

The 2001 resident fellows

Donna Brazile, former campaign manager for Gore-Lieberman 2000, is a veteran political strategist. As manager, she worked directly with Vice President Al Gore, senior campaign aides, and consultants in developing strategies to turn out over 50,000,000 voters on Tuesday, Nov. 7, 2000. Brazile also served as Gore’s national political director and was the vice president’s chief liaison to the nation’s Democratic elected officials, party leaders, and grassroots advocacy organizations. Prior to joining the Gore campaign, Brazile was chief of staff and press secretary to Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton of the District of Columbia. As an IOP Fellow, Brazile will lead a weekly study group about the 2000 presidential campaign.

Ceci Connolly is a national political reporter who covered the 2000 presidential campaign and election for The Washington Post. In addition to her coverage of the campaign, Connolly has written about campaign finance issues and congressional and gubernatorial races. In 1997, she produced a three-part behind-the-scenes look at the tobacco wars. Prior to The Washington Post, Connolly was a Washington correspondent for the St. Petersburg Times, where she covered Congress and issues such as the environment, Medicare, and Social Security. In 1996, she traveled with former U.S. Sen. Bob Dole, covering his presidential campaign. As a fellow, Connolly will conduct a political journalism workshop and will work with students on the Institute’s quarterly, student-written political journal, the Harvard Political Review.

Bob Franks recently completed his fourth term representing New Jersey’s 7th Congressional District. As a member of the House Budget Committee, Franks helped produce the country’s first balanced budget in a generation. Franks ran for U.S. Senate in 2000, a race that captured national attention. He narrowly lost the general election contest to Jon Corzine, the Democratic candidate, who spent a record $63 million on his campaign. Franks was New Jersey Republican chairman from 1988-89 and 1990-92. His study group will focus on his experiences in Congress, and will examine issues such as campaign finance through the lens of the U.S. House of Representatives.

Phil Noble is the founder and president of PoliticsOnline, an international company providing Internet and fundraising tools for politics, public affairs, and nonprofit enterprises. Noble has authored two books, including the first-ever “Guide to the Internet and Politics.” Prior to PoliticsOnline, Noble established Phil Noble and Associates, a political and public affairs consulting firm with two decades of experience on more than 300 political and public affairs projects and campaigns in the United States and 35 countries. Noble is also the founder of the Palmetto Project, a clearinghouse of community development ideas and projects in South Carolina, which has received international recognition and special awards from Presidents Bush and Clinton. As a fellow, Noble will lead an interactive project on democracy in the age of the Internet.

Pedro Rossello served two terms as the governor of Puerto Rico, the maximum under term-limit legislation. He began his career as a pediatric surgeon and professor of medicine at Harvard University and other hospitals. In 1985, he was appointed director of health for the city of San Juan. Three years later, he campaigned to become Puerto Rico’s congressional delegate, and was elected governor in 1992. He has served as president of the Council of State Governments, chair of the Democratic Governors Association, and chairman of the Southern Governors Association. During his fellowship, Governor Rossello will work with Project HEALTH, an innovative student organization focusing on public policy and community service.

Lionel Sosa was a media consultant for President George W. Bush in the 2000 election campaign. He has been Hispanic media consultant in five presidential campaigns, beginning in 1980. An advertising executive for most of his career, Sosa headed Garcia*LKS, the Southwest’s largest independent Hispanic advertising agency (founded by his wife, Kathy Sosa) from December 1995 until his retirement in December 2000. He is the author of “The Americano Dream: How Latinos Can Achieve Success in Business and in Life.” In addition to his political work with Republican candidates, Sosa has served on the advisory council of the University of Texas at Austin, the San Antonio Education Partnership, and the board of trustees for The University of the Incarnate Word. Currently, Sosa is a member of the board of regents of Texas A&M University. As a fellow, Sosa will lead a study group on public education, with a special focus on minority students and achievement.

The 2001 visiting fellows

Seth P. Waxman served as the 41st solicitor general of the United States from September 1997 until January 2001. Previously, he occupied several senior positions in the U.S. Department of Justice, beginning in 1994. Waxman was a prominent attorney in Washington, D.C., for 17 years before joining the Clinton administration. He is currently a visiting professor of law at the Georgetown University Law Center. Waxman is a summa cum laude graduate of Harvard College and received his law degree from the Yale Law School. He is a member of the Committee to Visit Harvard College, an elected director of the Harvard Alumni Association, and a director of several nonprofit institutions. Waxman will lead an IOP study group on the Supreme Court.

Sylvia Mathews served as deputy director of the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB), where she worked on the development of policy, negotiated with the Congress on behalf of the president, and was responsible for coordinating budget and appropriations matters, as well as legislative and management issues. Prior to her term at the OMB, Mathews was assistant to the president and deputy chief of staff to the president. In that position, she supervised the work of several White House offices, including the National Economic Council, the Domestic Policy Council, Public Liaison, Staff Secretary, Intergovernmental Affairs, Council on Environmental Quality, Press, Cabinet Secretary, and Communications. Mathews has also served as staff director for the National Economic Council and chief of staff to Secretary of the Treasury Robert E. Rubin, during President Clinton’s first term. Mathews graduated from Harvard University. She will be at the Institute of Politics for two weeks during the month of March.

The Institute of Politics was established in 1966 with an endowment from the John F. Kennedy Library Corporation to inspire undergraduate students to enter careers in politics and public service, and to promote greater understanding and cooperation between the academic community and the political world. The Institute offers a wide-ranging program for students including internships, forum speakers, visiting and resident fellows, study groups, and conferences intended to provide opportunities for interaction with the men and women who shape politics and public policy.