A potential 2008 presidential candidate, Mark R. Warner, and Arnold Schwarzenegger’s former chief of staff, Patricia Clarey, will serve as visiting fellows to the Institute of Politics (IOP) in April, the institute announced yesterday.

Warner, a former Democratic governor from a red state, and Clarey, a former key official for a Republican governor of a blue state, represent unique perspectives from across the political spectrum, IOP leaders said yesterday.

Visiting fellows remain at the College “for a limited time to interact with students, faculty, and research centers,” according to an IOP press release.

Each fellow will spend one week at the IOP­. Warner will arrive on April 3 and Clarey’s visit will begin April 17.

“We’re very excited that they are going to be here, and I think the students will also be excited...to interact with them in a variety of ways,” said Jeanne Shaheen, director of the IOP.

During his stay, Warner will speak at a forum, attend a welcome breakfast hosted by the IOP, visit a “Pizza and Politics” discussion, and even play a pickup basketball game at the Harvard Law School gym, according to Shaheen.

The former governor will also attend a gala banquet hosted by the Harvard College Democrats, where he will receive the group’s annual “Leadership Award.”

“I’ve covered a lot of ground since leaving office this January,” Warner said. “But the week I’m spending at Harvard promises to be a fantastic opportunity to interact with both students and faculty on a host of issues.”

Warner visited the College last fall, speaking at an IOP study group led by chief political correspondent for The New York Times, Adam Nagourney, in November.

Clarey, who is a 1983 graduate of the Kennedy School of Government, wrote in an e-mail that she is thrilled to be back on campus.

Shaheen said that Clarey’s schedule at the IOP has not yet been prepared.

But Clarey wrote that she will offer insight about working for the governor of the largest state—“who just happens to also be an international celebrity.”

The IOP Fellows Committee chair, Alexander I. Burns ’08, said that Warner and Clarey represent “both sides of the executive experience.”

And Christopher L. Corcoran ’07, president of the IOP Student Advisory Committee, said the two fellows represent bipartisan success.

“Governor Warner is a youthful, energetic Southern Democrat who exhibits a lot of national potential,” he wrote.

And Burns said that Clarey will have much to say about working with a personality like Schwarzenegger’s “under the media spotlight.”

—Staff writer Emily J. Nelson can be reached at ejnelson@fas.harvard.edu.