When Alan Steelman, 30, was elected to the U.S. Congress on Nov. 7, 1972, representing Dallas in the Fifth District of Texas, he became the youngest Republican member of the House of Representatives.

Upon his election, Mr. Steelman was selected as one of four representatives-elect across the nation to be named Fellows of the Institute of Politics at Harvard University. In residence at Harvard for a month, beginning Nov. 15, the Fellows participate in a comprehensive seminar on the mechanics of Congress.

Mr. Steelman served as executive director for the President's Advisory Council on Minority Business Enterprise in Washington, D.C. from September, 1969 until he resigned to become a congressional candidate in January, 1972. while in Washington he also served as a member of the Special White House Speakers Task Force on Phases I and II of the administration's economic program.

Prior to going to Washington, he served as executive director of the Sam Wyly Foundation of Dallas from January, 1969 to September, 1969. He was executive director of the Republican Party of Dallas County from January, 1966 to January, 1969.

Born March 15, 1942 in Little Rock, Ark., he grew up in Fordyce and Arkadelphia, Arkansas where he attended public school. Mr. Steelman graduated from Baylor University in 1964 with a B.A. in political science and from Southern Methodist University in 1971 with a Master of Liberal Arts. He is a member of Pi Sigma Alpha, political science honor society.

Mr. Steelman has long been interested in politics and government. His uncle, John R. Steelman, was Assistant to the President in the Truman Administration.

Currently Alan Steelman is collaborating with Professor Tom Naylor of Duke University, Durham, N.C., on a book dealing with political, economic and social innovations in the southern states. It is tentatively titled, "The South : A Strategy for Change."

Mr. Steelman is a director of the L.Q.C. Lamar Society and a member of the Board of Councilors of the Business School of the Federal City College in Washington, D.C. He is a director of UCC Venture Corporations and of the Institute for an Early Childhood Education, both in Dallas. Until recently he was a trustee and director of KERA-TV, public television in Dallas. He has been active in a wide variety of civic and cultural affairs, including the Dallas Symphony, the Dallas United Fund and Dallas Big Brothers. He is a member of the Baptist church.

Mr. Steelman married Carolyn Findley in 1962 and is the father of four : Robin, 9, Kimble, 7, and twins Alan, Jr. and Allison, 5. . [Son, Sidney Alexander, was born after 1973)

See also Biographical Directory of the American Congress online.