William G. Harley papers

William Harley was born on October 9, 1911 in Madison, Wisconsin, to Joel Alva and Elizabeth Gardner Harley. He received his BA from the University of Wisconsin in 1935. Upon graduation, 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 completed the work for his masters in 1940. In June of that year, he married Jewell Bunnell with whom he would have four daughters, Cynthia, Linda, Gratia, and Gail. 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. 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.

Harley was a member of the Phi Kappa Phi, Phi Eta Sigma, Beta Theta Pi, and the International and Cosmos Clubs of Washington.

Harley died in 1998.