Students & Alumni | 2.11.2011

Harvard's congressional contingent loses its lone woman, Jane Harman

The departure of Jane Harman, J.D. '69, returns the Harvard contingent's total to 31.

The contingent of Harvard matriculants in the 112th Congress totaled 35 for just over a month, until Democratic representative Jane Harman, J.D. ’69, of California, announced on February 8 that she would resign her post to become president, CEO, and director of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, in Washington, D.C.

Harman had been the only woman in the Crimson congressional group since Republican senator Elizabeth Dole, M.A. ’60, J.D. ’65, of North Carolina, left office in January 2009. The Californian’s departure means that the Harvard total for the new session now stands at 34: three Republicans and nine Democrats in the Senate; two Republicans and 20 Democrats in the House.

Updated November 7, 2012: The original article failed to note the election of John Garamendi, M.B.A. ’70, Democrat of California, and Terri Sewell, J.D. ’92, Democrat of Alabama, to the 112th Congress. The numbers above have been updated to reflect their presence. After Harman's departure, Sewell became the only woman in the Harvard congressional contingent.