John E. Harmon Sr. to Deliver WP Commencement Address and Receive Honorary Doctorate

John E. Harmon Sr., IOM, the founder, president, and CEO of the African American Chamber of Commerce of New Jersey (AACCNJ), will give the keynote address at William Paterson University’s 2025 Undergraduate Commencement Ceremony on Tuesday, May 20. The ceremony will be held at 9 a.m. at the Prudential Center in Newark. Harmon will receive an honorary doctor of humane letters degree.

“We look forward to hearing from John Harmon at our Commencement ceremonies and presenting him with an honorary doctorate,” says WP President Richard J. Helldobler. “Our graduates are changing and strengthening the social fabric of New Jersey and our nation, something Mr. Harmon knows about intimately through his decades of work to lift up and empower communities across our state like the ones many in the Class of 2025 call home. I know these graduates will appreciate hearing from someone with such a long record as a business and social entrepreneur as they embark on their own professional journeys, armed with their life-changing William Paterson degree.”

Nearly 3,400 bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degree candidates are expected to be recognized at the University’s Commencement events. In addition to the undergraduate ceremony, ceremonies will be held for master’s and doctoral degree candidates in the Sports and Recreation Center on William Paterson’s Wayne campus on Thursday, May 22: at 9.am. for the Cotsakos College of Business; at 1:30 p.m. for the College of Science and Health; and at 6 p.m. for the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Science and the College of Education. Alumni from the Class of 1975 will be present at the undergraduate ceremony along with members of the Pioneer Society, which consists of alumni who graduated at least 50 years ago.

Harmon has served as the founder, president, and CEO since 2007 of the African American Chamber of Commerce of New Jersey (AACCNJ) and is considered the leading voice for business development and economic empowerment for New Jersey’s Black-owned businesses. He serves as an advocate on behalf of the state’s 1.2 million African American residents and more than 88,000 Black-owned businesses to ensure that policy at the municipal, county, and federal level provides fairness, equity and access to a level playing field in the marketplace. He hosts two television shows, The Chamber Perspective and the AACCNJ’s Gold Telly Award-winning monthly show Pathway to Success, as well as the chamber’s weekly radio show, The Empowerment Hour.

In addition, Harmon is the former chairman of the board for the National Black Chamber of Commerce, which has 150 affiliate chapters and more than 15 international affiliates. He is a member of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors and a former member of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia’s Economic Community Advisory Council, Investors Bank Board of Directors, and Hackensack Meridian Health Board of Directors. Harmon is a member of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Committee of 100 and the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce. Harmon is the former president and CEO of the Metropolitan Trenton African American Chamber of Commerce. He is the founder and chairman of the New York State Black Business Alliance and was pinned as a new member of the 100 Black Men of NY in January 2025.

Harmon was honored in 2024 with the National Association of Corporate Directors Non-Profit Governance Award. He was named to the NJBiz Power 100 List for 2024, 2023, and 2022 and its Power 10 List in 2018. ROI-NJ named him New Jersey’s Number 1 Person of Color as a People of Color Influencers for 2020, 2021, and 2022. Harmon was honored as a New Jersey Business Hall of Fame Class of 2021 Laureate, as the NJBIA 2022 Executive of the Year, and by the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra at their Spring Gala 2022. Harmon is also recognized as a Center of Influence for the United States Army and was selected as a participant in the Joint Civilian Orientation 2018 Conference hosted by the Secretary of Defense.

Prior to his career as a chamber executive, Harmon worked at Bowery Savings Bank in New York City where he managed the bank’s Residential Real Estate Department overlooking major mortgage loan transactions, and at Chemical Bank where he managed third-party loan originations for New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. While at Chemical Bank, Harmon established the Affordable Housing Loan Program. Following his banking career, he founded Harmon Transfer Corp., a transportation company that transported dry goods, perishable commodities, and produce throughout the northeast United States and Canada.

Harmon holds an associate’s degree in business administration from Mercer County Community College and Burlington County College, and a bachelor’s degree in business management from Fairleigh Dickinson University. He has received honorary degrees from Fairleigh Dickinson University and Georgian Court University. He completed a Fellowship on Regionalism and Sustainability sponsored by the Ford Foundation and the Minority Business Management Seminar at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. In addition, he completed a four-year Chamber Executive Management Program at Villanova University sponsored by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. He is the author of the newly released Power Moves: The Life and Legacy of a Black Chamber Executive.