Jane Harman served nine terms in Congress as the U.S. representative for California’s 36th congressional district and was ranking member of the Intelligence Committee after 9/11. She left the House in 2011 to become the first woman president and CEO of the Wilson Center, transitioning to President Emerita in 2021.

Currently she chairs the Commission on the National Defense Strategy and the board of Freedom House. She is also a Trustee of the Aspen Institute, the Trilateral Commission, a Presidential Scholar at USC and serves on the advisory boards of the Department of Homeland Security, NASA, and Iridium Communications, Inc. Harman’s book, “Insanity Defense: Why Our Failure to Confront Hard National Security Problems Makes Us Less Safe,” was published by St. Martin’s Press in 2021.

Harman received her BA magna cum laude from Smith College where she was a member of Phi Beta Kappa, and her JD from Harvard Law School. She is a member of the Aspen Strategy Group.