UNITED
STATES
SECURITIES
AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington,
D.C. 20549
___________________________________
FORM
8-K
Current
Report Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of
the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934
Date of
Report (Date of earliest event reported):
December
31, 2008
HARRIS & HARRIS GROUP, INC.
(Exact
name of registrant as specified in its charter)
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New
York
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0-11576
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13-3119827
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(State
or other jurisdiction of incorporation)
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(Commission
File Number)
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(I.R.S.
Employer Identification
No.)
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111
West 57th
Street
New York, New York 10019
(Address
of principal executive offices and zip code)
Registrant's
telephone number, including area code: (212)
582-0900
Item
5.02 Departure of
Directors or Principal Officers; Election of Directors; Appointment of Certain
Officers; Compensatory Arrangements of Certain Officers.
On
December 31, 2008, Charles E. Harris, the Chairman, Chief Executive Officer, a
Managing Director and Founder of Harris & Harris Group, Inc.,
(the
Company”)
retired, as was previously disclosed, pursuant to the Company's mandatory
retirement policy for senior executives. As of January 1, 2009, Douglas W.
Jamison, currently the Company's President and Chief Operating Officer, will
succeed Mr. Harris as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. Daniel B.
Wolfe, currently the Company’s Chief Financial Officer, will take on the
additional roles of President and Chief Operating Officer. Please see
Forms 8-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on November 2, 2006,
and May 3, 2007.
Mr.
Jamison, 39, has served as President and as Chief Operating Officer since
January 1, 2005, as Treasurer from March 2005 to May 2008, as a Managing
Director since January 2004, as Chief Financial Officer from January 2005
through December 2007 and as Vice President from September 2002 through December
2004. He has been a member of our Board of Directors since May
2007. Since January 2005, he has been President and a Director of
Harris & Harris Enterprises, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of the
Company. Mr. Jamison is a director of Ancora Pharmaceuticals, Inc.,
and of Nextreme Thermal Solutions, Inc., privately held nanotechnology-enabled
companies in which we have investments. He is Co-Editor-in-Chief of
"Nanotechnology Law & Business." He is Co-Chair of the Advisory
Board, Converging Technology Bar Association, a member of the University of
Pennsylvania Nano-Bio Interface Ethics Advisory Board and a member of the
Advisory Board, Massachusetts Technology Collaborative Nanotechnology Venture
Forum. His professional societies include the Association of
University Technology Managers. From 1997 to 2002, he worked as a senior
technology manager at the University of Utah Technology Transfer Office, where
he managed intellectual property in physics, chemistry and the engineering
sciences. He was graduated from Dartmouth College (B.A.) and the
University of Utah (M.S.).
Mr.
Wolfe, 31, has served as Chief Financial Officer and as a Managing Director
since January 2008, as Principal from January 2007 to January 2008, as Senior
Associate from January 2006 to January 2007, and as Vice President from July
2004 to January 2008. Since October 2008, he has been a Director of
Harris & Harris Enterprises, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of the
Company. He is a director of Laser Light Engines and of SiOnyx, Inc.,
privately held nanotechnology-enabled companies in which we have an
investment. Prior to joining us, he served as a consultant to
Nanosys, Inc. (from 2002 to 2004), to CW Group (from 2001 to 2004) and to
Bioscale, Inc. (from January 2004 to June 2004). From February 2000
to January 2002, he was the Co-founder and President of Scientific Venture
Assessments, Inc., a provider of scientific analysis of prospective investments
for venture capital placements and of scientific expertise to high-technology
companies. He was graduated from Rice University (B.A., Chemistry),
where his honors included the Zevi and Bertha Salsburg Memorial Award in
Chemistry and the Presidential Honor Roll, and from Harvard University (A.M.,
Ph.D., Chemistry), where he was an NSF Predoctoral Fellow.
There was
no prior arrangement or understanding between Mr. Jamison or Mr. Wolfe and any
other person pursuant to which either would be selected as an officer of the
Company. Neither Mr. Jamison nor Mr. Wolfe has any direct or indirect
material interest in any existing or proposed transaction to which the Company
is or may become a party.
SIGNATURES
Pursuant
to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the Registrant has
duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto
duly authorized.
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Date: December
31, 2008
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HARRIS
& HARRIS GROUP, INC.
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By:
/s/ Daniel B.
Wolfe
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Daniel
B. Wolfe
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Chief
Financial Officer
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