awards for arts achievement

Sidney Harman is a founder and chairman emeritus of Harman International, a leading manufacturer and worldwide supplier of high-quality audio and video products, as well as digital navigation and information systems for the automotive, consumer, and professional markets.

He served as the deputy secretary of commerce of the United States in 1977-78.  One of the pioneers who began the high fidelity industry, he also founded the Program on Technology, Public Policy, and Human Development at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government and was president of Friends World College, a worldwide experimental Quaker college from 1970-73.  He is the author of Mind Your Own Business (2003), as well as co-author, with Daniel Yankelovich, of Starting with the People (1988).

Dr. Harman is the first Robert Widney University Chair Professor at the University of Southern California; a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences; a member of the Executive, Program Strategy, and Trustee Affairs Committees of The Aspen Institute; an executive member of the board of directors of Business Executives for National Security; trustee emeritus of the board of trustees of the Carter Center of Emory University; and a member of the board of trustees of Freedom House.  He is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations; president of the Harman Family Foundation; vice chairman of the Corporate Fund Board of The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts; a member of the board of the Leadership Institute of the University of Southern California; an honorary member of the board of directors of Public Agenda; and a member of the executive committee of the board of trustees of The Shakespeare Theatre Company in Washington, DC. 

He holds a Ph.D. from The Union Institute and an undergraduate degree from the City University of New York.