National Football Foundation

A four-year starter on UNC’s offensive line, Harris Barton helped the Tar Heels to two bowl appearances in 1983 and 1986. A Consensus First Team All-America and All-ACC selection, he paved the way for a North Carolina offense that led the ACC and ranked sixth nationally in total offense. The ACC’s Outstanding Offensive Lineman in 1986, Barton was selected to play in the Japan Bowl. A two-time Academic All-ACC selection, he compiled a 3.1 GPA and made the Dean’s List twice.

Barton was selected by the San Francisco 49ers with the 22^nd overall pick of the 1987 NFL Draft and enjoyed a 12-year career with the 49ers, starting 134-of-138 games, including 89 consecutive starts and three Super Bowl victories in 1989, 1990 and 1995. The runner-up in Rookie of the Year voting in 1987, he was a two-time All-Pro selection in 1992 and 1993 and a Pro Bowler in 1993. Barton retired after the 1998 season and became a managing partner of Champion Ventures, a fund of funds which invested in private equity, venture capital and hedge funds, along with former teammates Joe Montana and Ronnie Lott, a 2002 inductee of the College Football Hall of Fame.

Barton left the company in 2010 to start the angel investment firm H. Barton Asset Management. He donates his time to a number of organizations including REDF, The First Tee, Champion Charities (a 501(c) organization he founded with Lott), the 49ers Foundation and the Giants Community Fund. In 2011, he was inducted into the National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame.