Jane M. Harman

Jane M. Harman resigned from Congress February 28, 2011 to join the Woodrow Wilson Center as its first female director, president, and chief executive officer. She is a member of the Defense Policy Board and the Homeland Security Advisory Committee. She also serves on the Executive Committee of the Trilateral Commission and the Advisory Board of the Munich Security Conference. Harman is a trustee of the Aspen Institute and the University of Southern California. She is also a member of the Presidential Debates Commission.

Before her current position, Harman represented the aerospace center of California during nine terms in Congress, where she served on all the major security committees: six years on Armed Services, eight years on Intelligence, and eight on Homeland Security. During her long public career, Harman has been recognized as a national expert at the nexus of security and public policy issues and has received numerous awards for distinguished service.

Prior to serving in Congress, she was staff director of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Constitutional Rights, deputy cabinet secretary to President Jimmy Carter, special counsel to the Department of Defense, and in private law practice. 

Harman holds a bachelor’s degree (magna cum laude) in government from Smith College and a juris doctor degree in law from Harvard Law School, where she was elected to Phi Beta Kappa.