Harman honored for fostering intercultural sensitivity

Thursday, March 12, 1998

Harman honored for fostering intercultural sensitivity

AWARD: Businessman overshadowed by wife’s bid for governor’s
seat

By George Sweeney

Daily Bruin Contributor

On an evening filled with high-powered politicians, businessmen,
and diplomats, the person who took the spotlight at the 1998 Neil
H. Jacoby Award Dinner was, appropriately, the honoree. However, it
became startlingly apparent that his wife would soon overtake the
spotlight.

Hundreds of people packed the dining room of the Beverly
Wilshire Hotel on Tuesday to honor Sydney Harman, the CEO of Harman
International, with the Jacoby Award for excellence in promoting
international and intercultural understanding.

Given by the Dashew International Center, the organization that
runs UCLA’s international students’ program and is funding the new
Bradley International Building, The Jacoby Award has been given to
such distinguished persons as Gene Stone, Kirk and Anne Douglas,
and former Chancellor Charles E. Young.

And while the event was not a political gathering, the evening
was almost undercut by his wife Jane Harman’s bid for the
governor’s seat.

If all works out in November, Sydney Harman, on top of running a
Fortune 500 company, will "become the greatest first husband that
California has ever had," said Jack Valenti, honorary chairman of
the dinner.

However, Harman the candidate downplayed her own involvement in
the event, and instead chose to focus on her husband’s own myriad
accomplishments.

"I stand beside him because I believe in building one California
where all people can come together to share in California’s
newfound prosperity … building one world for one California,"
Harman said, focusing on California’s progression towards becoming
an international center.

However, Sydney Harman could not help but bring his wife’s
gubernatorial aspirations into play during his speech, tying
together the evening’s theme and his hope for new leadership in the
state capitol.

"I am convinced that the next governor of the state," he said,
"whoever she may be, will understand (the need for a global
community) very well."

Not to allow the spotlight to be taken from the honoree, Stanley
Dashew, the founder of the Dashew Center, praised Sydney Harman,
the immigrant who became a multi-millionaire industrialist.

"(Harman) has contributed to world understanding through his
politics and his business." Dashew said.

"He’s been an outstanding industrialist, he has great ‘people
policies’ inside of his corporation and he has been a pioneer in
the field of audio electronics. He comprises what America makes
possible and Sydney Harman, as an immigrant, typifies what America
makes possible."

And while his pursuit and attainment of the American dream was
an important part of his gaining the award, it is the idea of
building a world community that Harman focused on.

"We live in the new, real, believe it-or-not, digital world,"
Harman said. People on this planet perceive each other through a
complex series of connections, he said.

"We have to decide in business, politics and government, will we
operate in a vertical and analog way," he continued, "or will we
opt for what the Germans call gestalt, an integrating of the mind
and the community."

Along with Harman, the evening’s speakers all confronted how the
landscape of Los Angeles was changing from the traditional urban
center, to a community that far outreaches the stretch of its
geographical boundaries.

For the administration at UCLA, the international exchange and
international relations programs are playing key roles in the
development of UCLA as a center for international commerce.

The growing importance of the center may have something to do
with Chancellor Carnesale’s affinity for international relations
and his continuous assertion that he is committed to diversity.

Carnesale worked closely with the guest of honor while dean at
the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard.

Carnesale cited Harman’s innovative use of science and
technology in the field of public policy as reasons why Harman
stood out while he was at Harvard.

In addition to the Harvard connection, the two men have had
similar experience in the political arena as well. Carnesale was on
the board during the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (SALT) and
Harman was U.S. Deputy Secretary of Commerce under Jimmy
Carter.

On top of honoring Harman, the event, put on by the Dashew
International Center at UCLA, was staged in order to raise funds
for the upcoming Bradley International Building.

While the building itself has already been paid for, the money
raised from the event is going to aid in the operational costs of
the Bradley Building.

With diplomats from Greece, China, Korea, Japan, and Australia
intermingling. it seems that the evening was accomplishing the task
that the Bradley building was designed to serve: To bring different
people together.

Photos by MARY CIECEK

Sydney Harman won the 1998 Neil H. Jacoby Award for promoting
international understanding.

The UCLA Musical Choir performs at the Jacoby Award Dinner.