NSHSS Board Member Ed Harris with Student Council Member Marie Harding, Chief Development Officer Carla Maxwell Ray, and President James Lewis.
On February 2, NSHSS representatives met with Advisory Board member Ed Harris in Malibu, California, to discuss NSHSS activities. Mr. Harris is a highly-acclaimed actor, director, family man, and community leader who shared advice with NSHSS Student Council member Marie Harding, a freshman at the University of San Diego. Marie spoke about her positive experiences being a member of NSHSS, including her adventure traveling with Mr. Nobel to Australia last summer and meeting members at NSHSS events. Mr. Harris urges each member to find your purpose in life; to discover your unique talent and skill; to do what do your enjoy; and to persevere.
Ed Harris’s own life exemplifies such perseverance. An athlete in high school, he played football at Columbia University, but after transferring to the University of Oklahoma, he discovered that acting was his true passion. He next attended the California Institute of the Arts, graduating with a Fine Arts degree. He worked and learned his craft in summer stock and off-Broadway productions, in time becoming a major star of both stage and screen. A four-time Oscar nominee, he had made an indelible impression in such roles as NASA Astronaut John Glenn in "The Right Stuff" and Gene Krantz in "Apollo 13." He spent nearly ten years developing his favorite project, “Pollock,” which he directed, produced, and starred in, receiving a Best Actor Academy Award nomination for his portrayal of the American abstract painter Jackson Pollock.
NSHSS board members like Ed Harris provide positive role models for members. Be sure to read member Marquia Ray’s article “An Evening with Maya Angelou,” and members who attend the upcoming event on March 3 at the University of California, Santa Barbara, will have the opportunity to meet Board member and Nobel Laureate Dr. Herbert Kroemer. Visit our events page on the website for information.