Special Section: 50 Faces for America's Future

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Mikhail Baryshnikov, 31, is a man of grands jetés. His first leap was his 1974 defection from Leningrad's Kirov Ballet to the American Ballet Theater. Baryshnikov, who is becoming a U.S. citizen, is a classical dancer of genius. He performed more than 26 roles with the A.B.T. and choreographed two successful productions of The Nutcracker and Don Quixote. He soared as ballet's sexy superstar when he won an Oscar nomination for his role in the movie The Turning Point. In 1978 Baryshnikov joined George Balanchine's New York City Ballet, a company that emphasizes its ensemble, not its stars. But in 1980 he will jump again, returning to the A.B.T. as its artistic director and leading dancer. Baryshnikov is expected to inject new energy and choreography into the company. Says A.B.T. Executive Director Herman Krawitz: "He has the mind of a leader in an intellectual and poetic sense, and he also has a long-range corporate understanding."

6. Carol Bellamy, 37. Colleagues joke that she has never had an anxiety attack, and, indeed, Bellamy has brought calm self-confidence, efficiency and integrity to every job she has tackled, from three terms as a New York Democratic state senator to her present position as president of the New York City Council. Bellamy has taken a rather insignificant office and turned it into a position of substance by directing investigations of citizen complaints about utility costs, sanitation services and real estate abuses. In her collateral position on the city's main budget-making body, the Board of Estimate, she has pressed Mayor Edward Koch for deeper cuts and even wrested precise figures from his office by filing for them under a freedom-of-information law. Born in New Jersey and educated at Gettysburg College and New York University Law School, Bellamy seems to have her sights set on the Governor's mansion in Albany, where the incumbent is a fan of hers. Says Governor Hugh Carey: "She improves daily."

7. Mary Frances Berry, 41, HEW'S Assistant Secretary for Education and acting commissioner of education, is a champion of educational opportunity for what she calls the "underserved." Berry fought Carter's budget cutters this year and got a $263 million increase in funds for the disadvantaged, including $15 million in fellowships for members of minorities and women who want to go to graduate school. Born in Nashville and a graduate of Howard University, Berry holds both a Ph.D. in history and a law degree from the University of Michigan. She has written several books on the Constitution and civil rights law. Formerly chancellor of the University of Colorado, the highest major university post ever held by a black woman, Berry is a candidate for a top job if Congress creates a Department of Education. Known for her accessibility, Berry says: "The various publics who have an interest in what you're doing have a right to tell you how they feel about it."

8. David L. Boren, 38, was the youngest Governor in Oklahoma's history (33) and the youngest Senator (37). The industrious, chubby Democrat is already impressing his colleagues as what he calls a "maverick conservative," backing tax cuts and proposing streamlined reforms of the regulatory agencies, welfare and health care. Son of a Congressman from Oklahoma, Boren graduated from Yale and went to Oxford as a