David Wilhelm, one of this semester's Institute of Polotics (IOP) Fellows, was drawn into politics when he saw his father throw a shoe at a televised image of Nixon

He translated this intital interest into a career in politics, and the former chair of the Democratic National Committee will discuss his life's experiences in a study group this semester titled "Presidental Campaign Strategy: See How They Run."

Wilhelm was one of six IOP Fellows introduced to the Harvard community last night at the ARCO Forum in a panel discussion before about 100 people.

Fellows are current and former media and political representatives taking a mid-career back for a semester of study at the IOP. They each lead a study group that is generally opne to all members of the Harvard community, including undergraduates.

Mark Merritt, chief spokesperson of the 1996 Republican National Convention, said he is eager to work with students.

"The great thing about young people is that they don't think it can't be done," he said.

Merritt's study group, "Election 1996: The Candidates, the Media and the Rebellious American Voter," will discuss getting a campaign's message across to voters.

Former Florida Treasurer Tom Gallagher's political career began in the middle of the Watergate scandal.

The first Republican elected to a state-wide Florida cabinet post, he lost an election for the state's House of Representatives in 1972, but then won a special election called in 1974 after his opponent passed away.

Gallagher's study group is concerned with the "Devolution Revolution," focusing on welfare and education reform.

Diversity and apathy in journalism are topics that Dorothy Gilliam, Washington Post columnist and former president of the National Association of Black Journalists, hopes to address in her group, "Redefining the News."

Gilliam said she will be "involving [students] in helping us see what the news of the future should look like."

Another fellow is Mike Sullivan, the former governor of Wyoming, who will offer a study group on "Politics in the West."

Sullivan ran for the U.S. Senate in 1994 after hearing a character in the film "Grumpy Old Men" say that "the biggest regrets I have in life are the risks I didn't take."

Sullivan, who lost the race, remarked that 1994 was not a good year for Democrats running for the Senate.

Eunice E. Groark, former lieutenant governor of Connecticut and a past independent candidate for governor, will run a study group called "Third Parties? In American Politics?"

Students may sign up for the study groups at the undergraduate houses or the Institute of Politics.

Anne Aaron, director of student programs at the IOP, also said the fellows doors are always open to interested members of the Harvard community