Sidney Harman
Photo: Carter White House Photographs: Presidential, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons14

Sidney Harman

Canadian-American engineer and businessman

Sidney Mortimer Harman (August 5, 1918 – April 12, 2011) was a Canadian-born American engineer, businessman, manager and philanthropist active in electronics, education, government, industry, and publishing.2

From Wikipedia’s article on Sidney Harman (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Born Aug 4, 1918, died Apr 12, 2011.1

About

Harman made “high-fidelity sound [a] part of American life".

Harman's career highlights include: co-founder, CEO and Chairman Emeritus of Harman/Kardon, Inc, President of World Friends College, U.S. Under Secretary of Commerce, Fellow of American Academy of Arts and Sciences, board member of the Aspen Institute for Humanistic Studies, Isaias W. Hellman Professor of Polymathy at University of Southern California executive board chairman of Business Executives for National Security, member of the Council on Foreign Relations and CFO-owner of the Newsweek Daily Beast Co.

Harman was active in business until his death at 92 years old. He died one month after being diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia.

From Wikipedia’s article on Sidney Harman, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.2

Companies

Early life and education

  • Date not recordedUnion Institute & University3
  • Date not recordedBaruch College3
  • Date not recordedZicklin School of Business3

Harman was born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, a twin and the seventh of Nathaniel and Gertrude Diana (née Silverstein) Harman's eight children. Harman immigrated with his parents and siblings to New York City in 1923 and was raised there. Harman's father managed the regional office of a hearing aid company in Montreal before moving the family for a similar job in New York.

Harman was a graduate of Baruch College of the City University of New York in 1940, earning a BA in Business Administration and later earned a Ph.D. in social psychology from the Union Graduate College in Schenectady in 1973. His doctoral thesis was titled "Business and Education - New Experiments, New Hope".

Harman was a Jewish entrepreneur and philanthropist.

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Supporter of education

Harman was a lifelong and ardent supporter of education across America.

Harman served for three years as president of Friends World College, a worldwide, experimental Quaker College.

Harman Professorship in International Science, Public Policy, and Human Development

In March 1991 Harman founded and served as an active member of the Harman Professorship in International Science, Public Policy, and Human Development at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

Harman was chairman of the Program Committee of the Board of the Aspen Institute for Humanistic Studies and a member of the Board of the Carter Center of Emory University.

He was a philanthropist and a member of Washington, D.C.’s Shakespeare Theatre Company Board of Trustees. The Company's new Harman Center for the Arts is named for his family with a performance space, Sidney Harman Hall, named for him.

Baruch College Harman Writer-In-Residence program

In 1998 Harman endowed the Sidney Harman Writer-in-Residence program at Baruch College. At the 10th anniversary of the program Harman said of the program "I regard it (the program) as the single most creative impulse in my life and I do so because the arts should not be treated as decoration, as some extra-curricular activity. They should be intrinsic and organic in the developing life of a creative business person. That is what our Writer-in-Residence program encourages".

Each semester distinguished poets, playwrights, novelists, journalists and essayists are invited to participate in the program's workshops, classes and conferences. The Harman hosts guest readings and offers participants a weeklong residency. The program also sponsors creative writing competitions and literary internships for Baruch College students.

Academy for Polymathic Study

Harman was recognized as a polymath. He was founder and first chairman of the Academy for Polymathic Study at USC. He also served as the inaugural Isaias W. Hellman Professor of Polymathy in the academy. The academy encourages critical and integrative thinking, the study of history's great polymaths, and intellectual investigation across the boundaries of traditional academic specialties. In 2012 the Harman Family Foundation's gave $10 million to endow the center now named the Sidney Harman Academy for Polymathic Study.

From Wikipedia’s article on Sidney Harman (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Career

Occupation: businessperson, audio engineer, engineer.7

Early audio career

After graduating from college, Harman's first job was at the David Bogen Company as an engineer where he designed public-address systems.

While working at Bogen, Harman met Bernard Kardon, first Bogen's design engineer and later executive vice-president.

During his 14-year tenure at Bogen, Harman moved from engineer to sales manager. He was later named general manager of the firm.

From Wikipedia’s article on Sidney Harman (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Personal life

  • BornAug 4, 1918, Montreal8
  • DiedApr 12, 2011, Washington, D.C.9
  • CitizenshipUnited States10
  • SpouseJane Harman 1980 to 201111

Harman was married to the former Sylvia Stern for 25 years and had four children with her. They continued an amicable relationship until her death. In 1980 Harman married his second wife Jane Harman (née Lakes), a Carter administration staffer Harman met while serving as Carter's U.S. Under Secretary of Commerce.

From Wikipedia’s article on Sidney Harman (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Philanthropy

Harman's philanthropic activities were many and varied, including serving as a trustee of the Martin Luther King Center for Social Change, the Los Angeles Philharmonic Association and the National Symphony Orchestra. He was chairman of the executive committee of the Board of the Public Agenda Foundation; chairman of the executive committee of the Board of Business Executives for National Security; a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the U.S. Council on Competitiveness; and a member of the Board of the Leadership Institute of the University of Southern California. Harman's family has served as a major contributor to Israeli and Zionist causes during much of Harman's lifetime.

Harman Center for the Arts

In 2004 Harman supported Washington, D.C.’s Shakespeare Theatre Company, donating $ 19.5 million dollars (including $ 5 million dollars required to be matched) of the total $ 89 million dollar project to design and build the Sidney Harman Hall and the Lansburgh Theatre which comprise the Harman Center for the Arts.

From Wikipedia’s article on Sidney Harman (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Sources

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