Jane Harman is a former nine-term U.S. Congresswoman whose Southern California district included major aerospace facilities. She served as Ranking Member of the House Intelligence Committee after 9/11, playing a central role in modernizing congressional oversight of the U.S. intelligence community. Following nearly two decades in Congress, Harman remains a respected voice on national and homeland security, defense, and foreign policy.

In 2011, Harman became the first woman President and CEO of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, leading the institution for a decade and continuing as President Emerita. She later chaired the bipartisan Commission on the National Defense Strategy, which issued a unanimous report in July 2024.

Harman has served on advisory boards across the intelligence, defense, homeland security, and foreign policy communities, received numerous awards including the CIA Director’s Medal, and recently co-chaired the Council on Foreign Relations Task Force on U.S. Space Management Policy. She is a member of the Aspen Strategy Group and the Advisory Council of the Munich Security Conference, and a Trustee of the Aspen Institute, the Trilateral Commission, Freedom House, and the University of Southern California.
Harman is the author of "Insanity Defense: Why Our Failure to Confront Hard National Security Problems Makes Us Less Safe", a candid examination of U.S. policy choices since the end of the Cold War and a call for bipartisan realism in addressing America’s toughest security challenges.

A product of Los Angeles public schools, Harman graduated magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Smith College, where she was later awarded an honorary degree. She also holds a J.D. from Harvard Law School.