Year Inducted: 1995
John T. Hartley, better known as “Jack,” is widely known as a man of impeccable character, with a very high degree of technical expertise and management acumen. Born in Jacksonville, Florida, he received a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Auburn University in 1951. Following three years of service as a naval officer during the Korean conflict, he returned to Auburn and was awarded a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering in 1955.
After only four years at Radiation, Inc., of Melbourne, Florida, Mr. Hartley was named a vice president. Three years later he was given responsibility for starting a micro-electronics group to provide the company with leadingedge semiconductor technology. That small micro-electronics group is now Harris Semiconductor, the seventh-largest supplier of advanced integrated circuits in the United States and the number-one supplier of radiation-hardened circuits to the U. S. Government.
Along the way to the pinnacle he now occupies, Mr. Hartley was vice president and general manager of the merged Radiation and Harris-Intertype Corporation’s largest electronic systems operating unit in 1967. In 1971, he was assigned additional responsibilities as vice president of the Harris-Intertype Systems Group and named a corporate vice president/group executive in 1973. Following the change of the company’s name to the Harris Corporation in 1974, Mr. Hartley was elected to the Harris Board of Directors and to the newly created post of executive vice president in 1976. In the period from 1978 to 1987, Mr. Hartley has been named president and principal operating officer, chief operating officer, president and chief executive officer, and chairman of the Board of Directors. Throughout his meteoric rise to the top of his profession, Mr. Hartley has been a prime mover in establishing the company’s business philosophy, strategic planning, and human resource development.
Jack Hartley’s engineering and scientific know-how were not lost during his rise in the corporate management scheme. Most of the company’s early achievements in telemetry equipment for communications and weather satellites were directly attributable to his technical ability as well as his extraordinary vision for technological advancement. In the mid 1980s, during a period of U.S. military buildup, Hartley recognized the need for defense suppliers to effect an orderly transition from military to other markets and began to lay plans for Harris accordingly. His strategy was to seek new system opportunities where Harris’ extensive technologies base and project-management experience could be applied successfully. Under Mr. Hartley’s stewardship, Harris is a respected worldwide leader in advanced electronics with 28,000 employees whose products, systems and services are sold in more than 150 countries.
An ardent supporter of the nation’s drive toward higher-quality education, he has moved the company to greater heights of awareness in this area, including the highly successful “Harris Initiative for Quality Education.” He has not gone unrewarded for his successes. In 1984 he was selected as a Distinguished Auburn Engineer and named the Outstanding Auburn University Electrical Engineering Alumnus in 1987. Mr. Hartley was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Science degree in 1993 by the Florida Institute of Technology and was recently awarded the prestigious U.S. Department of Defense Medal for Distinguished Public Service by Secretary of Defense William Perry.
