William G. Harley
1911-1998

Biographical Information:

William Harley was born on October 9, 1911. After graduating from the University of Wisconsin in 1935, he began work at the Wisconsin Broadcasting System as chief announcer while studying for his masters at the University of Wisconsin. He joined the staff of WHA in Madison and assumed the duties of an Instructor in Madison's Department of Radio-Television Education in 1936. He became Program Director of the Wisconsin Broadcasting System in 1940 and from 1944 to 1946 served as Acting Director for the System. Harley worked up through the ranks of the Department if Radio-Television Education in the 1940's and 1950's. He was named Assistant Professor in 1942, Associate Professor in 1953, and Professor in 1957.

From 1950 to 1952, Harley was the program coordinator for the Ford-National Association of Educational Broadcasters (NAEB) Adult Education Radio Project. Harley left Wisconsin for Washington, D.C., in 1960 to serve as President of NAEB. Concurrently, he became the Director of the Joint Council on Educational Telecommunications (JCET). He remained in these two positions until 1975. From 1973 to 1975, he also served as President of JCET.

Upon stepping down from NAEB and JCET, he served on the Peabody Awards Board. He was Chairman of this Board from 1981 to 1985. During this period, Harley served on several national and international commissions dealing with communications including UNESCO and the Mass Communications Commission. He even served as Chairman of the Mass Communications Commission from 1967 to 1968 and 1970 to 1976.

Harley died in 1998.

Bibliography:

• Harley, William G. "Applying Satellite Technology to International Education," Educational Broadcasting Review, Vol. 3, No. 6 (December 1969): 3-8.
• Harley, William G. "The Challenges to Educational Communicators," Educational Broadcasting Review (Convention Report), Vol. 4 (1970): 3-4.
• Harley, William G. "A Communications Controversy," International Educational and Cultural Exchange, Vol. 13, No. 3 (Winter 1978): 3.
• Harley, William G. "NAEB's Role in Public Broadcasting's New Maturity," Educational Broadcasting Review, Vol. 6, No. 6 (December 1972): 398-403.
• Harley, William G. "Report of the NAEB President," Educational Broadcasting Review (Convention Report), Vol. 4 (1970): 31-33.
• Harley, William G. U.S. Communications Activities: Summary and Update," Journal of Communication, Vol. 35 (Spring 1985): 39-41.
• Harley, William G. "U.S. Decision to Withdraw from UNESCO: U.S. State Department Memorandum," Journal of Communication, Vol. 34, Issue 4 (Autumn 1984): 89-92.
• Harley, William G. "The U.S. Stake in the IPDC," Journal of Communication, Vol. 31 (Autumn 1981): 150-158.

• Harley, William G. Creative compromise : the Macbride Commission : a firsthand report and reflection on the workings of UNESCO's International Commission for the Study of Communication Problems. Lanham: University Press of America, 1993.
• Harley, William G. The March of Educational Broadcasting: Address of William G. Harley. Wisconsin: Coordinating Council for Higher Education, 1959.
• Harley, William G. The New World Information Order : confrontation or cooperation with the third world, an American view. Medford, MA: Tufts University, 1979.

Other Resources:

return to top