William G. Harley

Interview by Jim Robertson described below

From 1950 to 1952, William G. 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. Harley received an honorary LL.D from the University of Wisconsin in 1972.

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. While working on these commissions, Harley consulted for such organizations as the Rothschild Foundation, the Agency for International Development, and the U.S. Department of State among others. Harley retired in 1987 except for a current stint on the Board of Directors of Americans for Universality of UNESCO and his editorship of The Oldtimers Newsletter. Finally, in 1989, Harley served on the National Committee of OPT IN America, a nonprofit public advocacy group dedicated to promoting the development of fiber optic technology for home and school.

William G. Harley died November 1998.

In this interview, Harley reviews some of the history of the National Association of Educational Broadcasters, his career at the University of Wisconsin, and his then current work in the United States Department of State.

Topics

• Corporation for Public Broadcasting
• educational radio
• educational television
• Educational Television Facilities Act
• National Association of Educational Broadcasters
• National Educational Radio
• Public Broadcasting Act of 1967

Interviewed by Jim Robertson
January 27, 1982

People

• Vernon Bronson
• C. Scott Fletcher
• Frieda Hennock
• Richard Hull
• John Pastore

Topics

• Allerton House Conferences
• educational television
• Educational Television Facilities Act
• National Association of Educational Broadcasters
• National Educational Television
• WHA (Madison, WI)

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