About Harvey Kliman – Personal History

Retirement and the move to Hamilton:

In Hamilton, where we moved in August 2006, I found my home.  Here there’s a real sense of community, which was lacking in suburban Chadds Ford, PA, where Debbie and I lived for 35 years.  It was easy to make friends and get involved in local organizations, and government.  Walking or bicycling instead of driving everywhere is wonderful!

Important examples of my service to Hamilton include:  appointment to the Village of Hamilton Master Plan Committee and the Hamilton Municipal Airport/Airpark Commission.
Ivolunteered as a SOMAC driver and rebuilt the SOMAC website.

In the Town, I am on the Town of Hamilton Comprehensive Plan and Deer Committees and member of the Zoning Board of Appeals.  My work with SMHT, the local land trust has resulted in doubling the amount of land protected from development, while providing public access to trails and educational field trips for the Hamilton Central School 5th grade. I am also on the Colgate Upstate Institute Community Board and Secretary of the Board of the Chenango Canal Association.
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Local Government Service before Hamilton:

My service in local government in Chadds Ford, PA has provided me with extensive experience dealing with developers from the earliest planning stages to final approval.  Experience that will be directly applicable to the office of Mayor should I be elected.  Among the many developments that occurred when I was either an elected Supervisor (6 years) or Planning Board Chair (9 years) were: multi-home residential developments from small lot subdivisions to a plan with over 50 homes.  During that same period, two auto dealerships, a shopping center, an office park, and small commercial developments came to Chadds Ford.
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Background, Education & Marriage:

Born in 1942 in Boston, I am the youngest of four boys, two of whom became MDs and one like myself a Ph.D. scientist. 

Boston public schools formed the basis for my education, leading to an AB in Chemistry with Distinction from Boston University and an MA and Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry from Princeton.  It was there I met my first and only wife, Deborah Sill, native Hamiltonian, who was teaching the first Head Start program in nearby Lawrenceville, NJ.  After about 18 months of courtship, we were married in Princeton on December 17, 1966 and have lived happily ever after.
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Career as a Physical Chemist:

After Princeton, I got a job in basic research at DuPont in Wilmington Delaware, where I stayed from 1969 to 1998, working on an enormous range of products from textiles to computer science and orthopedic implant development. After DuPont, I worked part time for eight years as a consultant in “Best Practices” in technology and in a small startup company on a variety of industrial and military products. 

Harvey Kliman, May, 2015

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