1987-1991

Harris Wofford was born April 9, 1926 in New York City. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Chicago in 1948, a Bachelor of Law Degree from Yale University in 1954, a Juris Doctor from Howard University Law School in 1954 and has received honorary degrees from Tufts University, Wake Forest University, and King's College. He was in the U.S. Air Force from 1944-1945.

 

Wofford was a member of the American Bar Association; Associate Director of the Peace Corps from 1964-66; Peace Corps Special Representative to Africa from 1963-64; Special Assistant to President Kennedy and Chairman of the White House Subcabinet Group on Civil Rights from 1961-1962; counsel, U.S. Committee on Civil Rights; Trustee, Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Non-Violent Social Change; Secretary, Philadelphia Martin Luther King, Jr. Association for Nonviolence; member of the Public Interest Law Center of Philadelphia Board of Directors; and a member of the Council of Foreign Relations. Among his numerous awards, Wofford received the Philadelphia Drum Major Award for Social Justice; the Eleanor Roosevelt Humanities Award; and the Howard University Alumni Award for Postgraduate Achievement. He is the author of four books, including Of Kennedys and Kings; Making Sense of the Sixtys, and several other articles and writings on politics, education, and law.

 

Wofford was appointed Secretary of the Department of Labor and Industry on January 21, 1987.

 

From The Link, April 1987.