American Jewish Committee (AJC) CEO David Harris received a Brandeis University Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree on Sunday.
“David Harris has lived an exemplary life of achievement and service to humankind. He embodies Brandeis’ core value of using one’s talents to improve the world,” said Brandeis University President Ron Liebowitz.
Liebowitz presented the honorary degree during Commencement Exercises for the Class of 2022, which was attended by thousands of graduates, faculty, trustees, administrators, and families and friends of the students.
“Harris has led AJC, an organization dedicated to the security and well-being of the Jewish people around the world, for more than three decades. He steps down as its CEO in fall 2022,” the university said.
In 1974, as a fluent Russian speaker, Harris was selected to participate in a U.S.-Soviet government exchange program, where, teaching in Moscow and Leningrad schools, he witnessed the dire circumstances of Soviet Jews who were being systematically prevented by the Soviet Union from emigrating to Israel and other free nations.
“Shaped by this experience, including his eventual detention and expulsion by Soviet authorities for his contact with Soviet Jewish activists, Harris began his journey of becoming one of the most visible and highly regarded advocates for the Jewish people. He has explained his lifelong mission as seeking to ‘assist Jews in danger worldwide, support Israel's quest for peace and security, combat antisemitism, and defend democratic values against the radical right and the totalitarian left.’”
During his time at AJC, which he first joined in 1979, Harris has overseen efforts to repeal, in 1991, the infamous “Zionism is racism” resolution adopted in a 1975 United Nations General Assembly resolution; help resettle Jews from Ethiopia; advance peace by working quietly with Arab and Muslim-led nations; and promote U.S. and international support for Israel. On behalf of AJC, he has participated in humanitarian efforts responding to man-made and natural disasters throughout the world, including in the U.S., Middle East, Africa, Asia, and Europe.
“Harris has published broadly on global trends, the Middle East, Holocaust memory, and the struggle against antisemitism. His advocacy has been recognized with numerous awards by 15 foreign governments. He has testified before the U.S. Congress, the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, and the French Parliament,” said Brandeis.
Past recipients of Brandeis University Honorary Doctorates include Shimon Peres, Yitzhak Rabin, George Shultz, Harry Truman, Felix Frankfurter, Deborah Lipstadt, Thurgood Marshall, Natan Sharansky, and Elie Wiesel.
This is the fourth honorary doctorate bestowed on Harris. The previous three were presented by Hebrew Union College (2003), University of Piraeus (2016), and Azerbaijan State University of Languages (2016).
In March 2021, Harris was named an Officer of the Order of the Legion of Honor, France's highest order of merit, at a ceremony at the French Consulate in New York City.