A member of the South African Parliament, an editor of a prominent U.S. newspaper and a former press secretary to First Lady Laura Bush will be among the six resident fellows at the Institute of Politics (IOP) this fall, the IOP announced Tuesday.

Tony J. Leon, the former leader of the Democratic Alliance, the official opposition in South Africa’s Parliament, and Maralee Schwartz, the deputy business editor of The Washington Post, will join other prominent public servants at Harvard this September.

IOP Director and former New Hampshire Governor Jeanne Shaheen said that the new fellows should bring a wide range of perspectives to the political table.

“I think it’s a balanced class,” she said. “It’s got good gender balance, good ideological balance and good representation of various aspects of involvement in journalism and politics.”

Other fellows include Special Assistant to the President and Deputy National Security Advisor for Iraq and Afghanistan Meghan L. O’Sullivan, Mayor William P. Purcell of Nashville, Tenn., Noelia Rodriguez, the former director of communications and press secretary to Laura Bush, and E. Clay Shaw, a U.S. Representative from Florida.

Chosen by a panel of IOP staff and student advisors, the fellows will work with students and host weekly study groups to discuss their unique experiences with politics.

“The mission of the Institute of Politics,” Shaheen said, “is to try to get students here excited about the political process and public service. That’s the bottom line what we hope all of these fellows will do.”

Shaw, a Republican congressman for 26 years, said he looks forward to “lively debate” and to sharing his ideas with interested students of differing world views.

“You’re going to have diversity and that’s what stimulates debate in a lot of the things we’ll be talking about,” Shaw said. “It’s very stimulating to talk to people who have different ideas and different views because it’s not a question of who’s going to win or lose.”

Rodriguez, who also served as CEO of LA Convention 2000—the host committee for the Democratic National Convention in 2000—hopes her unique view of the “East Wing” of the White House will be of interest to students.

“One of the things that intrigued some of the students and others at the IOP during my interview was the diversity of my experience,” Rodriguez said.

“My bipartisan experience has been a great asset for me, and I hope to share that with the students.”

Both Shaw and Rodriguez added that while they have lots of experiences to share with the students, one aspect of the program that excites them most is the chance to learn from the students in return.

Shaheen is confident that this semester’s group of fellows will live up to the program’s goal of inspiring students to get involved with politics.

“Whether its running for office or serving, or being involved in any of the levels of government,” Shaheen said, “we hope something will spark students’ interests and they’ll decide that this is what they want to do with their lives.”

—Staff writer Nathan C. Strauss can be reached at strauss@fas.harvard.edu.