Members

Senior Faculty Member in Philosophy, Evergreen Valley College, 

Professor of Philosophy, Global Ministries University, 

San Jose, California, USA

Prof. Sterling Harwood, J.D., Ph.D., is a veteran educator and legal scholar who earned both his doctorate in Philosophy and his law degree from Cornell University. With a teaching career that began in 1982 at Cornell, Prof. Harwood has served on the faculties of numerous institutions, including San Jose State University, Lincoln Law School, and Hobart & William Smith Colleges. He is currently a senior faculty member in Philosophy at Evergreen Valley College and also teaches at Global Ministries University. Over the past four decades, he has taught hundreds of courses in philosophy, ethics, critical thinking, and legal studies across more than a dozen colleges and universities.

Prof. Harwood’s professional journey includes nearly 20 years of legal practice in California, with expertise in family law, real estate, criminal defense, and immigration. His legal career complemented his academic interests, providing a real-world foundation for his teaching and scholarship. In public service, he has managed five congressional campaigns and served as a delegate for Al Gore in the 1988 Democratic primary. He also held administrative positions such as Director of the Institute for Social Responsibility at San Jose State University and Judicial Officer for student academic discipline cases, reinforcing his lifelong commitment to justice, ethics, and civic engagement.

As a scholar, Prof. Harwood has authored or edited eight books and published widely in leading academic journals, including Ethics, Law and Philosophy, Contemporary Philosophy, and Vera Lex. His books include Controversies in Criminal Law, Business as Ethical and Business as Usual, Judicial Activism: A Restrained Defense, and The Greatest Mystery of the Beatles, which applies critical thinking to pop culture. His writings are frequently cited and appear in textbooks, encyclopedias, and anthologies, reflecting his broad influence in both academic and public discourse.

In addition to his scholarly publications, Prof. Harwood has contributed chapters to widely used ethics and philosophy readers, written encyclopedia entries on key philosophical and legal concepts, and reviewed textbooks and academic articles as a referee for major journals and publishers. He has also written instructor manuals for leading philosophy texts and presented at numerous conferences and symposia. Through his interdisciplinary expertise, prolific writing, and decades of teaching, Prof. Harwood has made a lasting impact on the fields of philosophy, legal theory, and applied ethics.