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Name: Harman, Jane
Current Position: Previous Director
Jane Harman announced on February 7, 2011, that she was resigning as a U.S. congresswoman to become head of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, a Washington, D.C. think tank devoted to the ideals of former U.S. President Woodrow Wilson. Her husband, Sidney Harman, died two months later. At the time of her resignation, Harman was the third richest member of Congress, behind only Sen. John Kerry (D-Massachusetts) and Rep. Darrell Issa (R-California).
Jane Harman was born Jane Margaret Lakes in New York City on June 28, 1945, to Lucille Geier and Adolph N. Lakes, a doctor. She graduated from University High School in Los Angeles in 1962, and earned a Bachelor’s Degree from Smith College in 1966. She added a law degree at Harvard University School of Law in 1969.
In Washington, D.C., during the 1970s, Harman served as Chief Legislative Assistant to California Senator John Tunney, as Adjunct Professor at Georgetown University Law Center, and as Staff Director and Chief Counsel for the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Constitutional Rights. In the Carter Administration, she worked as Special Counsel to the Department of Defense and, from 1977-1978, as Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Cabinet.
Harman joined the Democratic National Committee, serving as Counsel for its 1984 platform committee and, from 1986 to 1992, as chair of its National Lawyer’s Council. She concurrently practiced law with various law firms in Washington, D.C.
In 1992, Harman was elected to the U.S. Congress, where she served as a U.S. Representative through 1998. After an unsuccessful run for California governor that year, she briefly taught public policy as a Regent’s Professor at UCLA.
In 2000, Harman was re-elected to Congress, where she continued to serve until 2011.
Her husband, Sidney Harman, died April 12, 2011. He was a former Undersecretary of the Department of Commerce and two-time owner of the multi-million-dollar company, Harman International Industries (previously Harman Kardon). In August 2010, Sidney Harman bought Newsweek. The couple had two children, Daniel Geier and Justine Leigh, as well as two children—Brian and Hillary Frank—from Harman’s first marriage to Richard Frank. She also has three grandchildren.
Jane Harman (Wikipedia)
