Dr. Harry Edwards
Dr. Harry Edwards is a renowned sociologist and author whose distinguished career has focused on the connections between race, sport, and society. As a scholar, educator, and advocate for African-American athletes, he is a leading authority on the sociology of sports and diversity.
As an honor student, discus thrower, and basketball player at San José State University (SJSU), Dr. Edwards became the first Black student-athlete since the early 1950s to graduate within the time frame of his athletic eligibility. Choosing academia over professional sports, he accepted a Woodrow Wilson Fellowship at Cornell University, where he earned a master's degree before serving as a visiting professor at SJSU from 1966 to 1968. During this time, he wrote The Revolt of the Black Athlete and organized the United Black Students for Action, a forum that engaged in discussions laying the groundwork for the Olympic Project for Human Rights. This movement notably influenced the podium protest by Olympians Tommie Smith and John Carlos at the 1968 Mexico City Summer Games.
Dr. Edwards earned a Ph.D. from Cornell and became a noted sociology professor—now emeritus—at the University of California, Berkeley. His research focuses on the intersections of sport, race, and society, particularly concerning African-American experiences. He has published numerous articles addressing the challenges of diversity within sports institutions, demonstrating the potential of the sociology of sport—a discipline he pioneered—to illuminate paths toward progressive advancement. His work has significantly shaped both academic and popular discourse on sports-related issues.
Over the last four decades, professional sports franchises have sought his expertise. Dr. Edwards has served as a staff consultant to the San Francisco 49ers for over three decades and spent ten years as a counselor and consultant on player personnel development with the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association. He has also worked on initiatives to develop and hire minority talent for front-office executive positions in Major League Baseball.
In recognition of his outstanding contributions and his role as an inspiration to youth and professionals alike, the California State University Board of Trustees and San José State University are proud to confer upon Harry Edwards the honorary degree of Doctor of Humane Letters.
Edwards told Time magazine that he "wants to serve as a role model—the promising athlete who gave up the possibility of a career in professional sports to become a scholar instead." He emphasized the importance of teaching children to "dream with their eyes open," stating, "The chances of your becoming a Jerry Rice or a Magic Johnson are so slim as to be negligible. Black kids must learn to distribute their energies in a way that's going to make them productive, contributing citizens in an increasingly high-technology society."