Harry Mark Biography: When Harry, the brain behind TED, made his ‘Mark’

Harry Mark Biography

If there is one person who can be credited for the existence of modern videos – with 3D letters moving over the TV screen, it is Harry Marks. Born in England, Harry’s career was one that many people in the broadcasting world would have ever dreamt of.

At the mere age of 15, he worked for Oxford University Press as a typographer and publications designer. Three years later, he moved to San Francisco and worked for the University of California Press. Harry Marks’ Biography is interesting as he went on to work for three of the largest American broadcasting networks – ABC, CBS, and NBC.

While the series of achievements at such a young age may seem like the most jaw-dropping event in his career, Harry had only scratched the surface then. Harry Mark’s biography wasn’t limited to this, what followed next turned out to be a cultural phenomenon worldwide!

Harry Mark Biography

Full name	Harry Mark
Date Of Birth	11-Mar-31
Birthplace	England, United Kingdom
Awards	Emmy Award, Lifetime Achievement Award
Children	2

Launch of TED Conference

Having worked with people from all walks of life – musicians, artists, designers, scientists, engineers, etc., Harry was said to have been struck with the idea of doing a conference. “And it struck me at one point that we were bringing these very divergent technologies together. I came up with this idea that I wanted to do a conference, but I didn’t know how to do a conference,” he was quoted saying.

In 1984, he, along with Saul Wurman, an architect, and graphic designer did the first TED with the help of Dr. Frank Stanton. The first talk was on compact discs, e-book, and 3D graphics from Lucas Film. The aim was to make knowledge sharing more convenient and easier, especially for the masses.

Six years later when the next TED was held, Harry said, “Some of the things that we talked about and introduced at TED1 seemed esoteric six years ago and now, they’re on our desk at the office, or more likely at home, or even more likely both.”

Since then, TED has grown from being an invitation-only event to something that anyone can apply to attend. The list of presenters kept on broadening as well. From scientists, philosophers, musicians, business leaders, and religious preachers to philanthropists and more, today, TED is open to all.