Perloff joined the US Army as an enlisted man, 07/13/1943 in VA. He was stationed at Fort Myer, Arlington, VA, in 1943.

Assistant/Associate Professor, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, 1947-1955; Dean, University of California, Los Angeles, Graduate School of Architecture and Urban Planning, 1968-1983;

Director, Resources for the Future, Incorporated; appointed by President John F. Kennedy to the Committee of Nine of the Alliance for Progress; , Chairman, Committee on National Urban Policy, 1981. During his nearly 40 year career, Perloff wrote 17 books, most on urban planning and urban planning education. In 1957, the Architectural Record called his book, Education for Planning: City, State and Regional (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1957) "required reading." (See "Required Reading, Architectural Record, vol. 122, no. 6, 12/1957, p. 324.)

The University of California, Los Angeles, Charles E. Young Research Library, Department of Special Collections maintained Perloff's papers. (See Online Archive of California, "Finding Aid for the Harvey S. Perloff Papers, 1966-1977,"Accessed 10/13/2011.)

Perloff immigrated to the US with his parents from Russia. In 1938, He listed his parent's residence at 3438 Ridge Avenue, Philadelphia, PA, as his address. In 1951, he and his wife, Miriam, lived at 5021 Drexel Boulevard, Chicago, IL.

His mother's maiden name was Kahn.

Perloff married Miriam (Mimi) Perloff (born in NY) before 1951.

Jeffrey M. Perloff had been born in Chicago, IL, to Harvey and Miriam before 1951. Jeffrey became a Professor in the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics at the University of California, Berkeley. He earned a B.A. in economics from the University of Chicago in 1972 and a Ph.D. in economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1976. Prior to coming to the University of California, he worked as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Economics at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA.

Perloff returned from Liverpool, England to New York, NY, aboard the S.S. Franconia, 08/19-29/1938. He traveled to Puerto Rico with his wife and son on 06/14/1951, via Pan American World Airways. SSN: 578384609.