Harris was the former senior associate dean at
Cornell University's College of Arts and Sciences and a former deputy assistant secretary in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. In addition to his position as dean, he was also Cornell's vice provost, deputy provost, and interim provost. Before Cornell he was also associate chair of the Department of Sociology at the
University of Michigan. During his time at Cornell, he became the founding director of Cornell's new Institute for the Social Sciences in 2004. In 2005 Cornell's provost
Carolyn Martin asked him to become the university's first vice provost for social sciences. Two years later Harris became Cornell's first deputy provost, which included acting as the provost's alternate. He played an important role in Reimagining Cornell, a strategic initiative aimed at the financial and administrative reconstruction of the university. In 2010, Harris joined the
Obama administration as deputy assistant secretary for human services policy. After, he returned as senior associate dean of Cornell's College of Arts and Sciences. In 2018, Harris was selected for
honoris causa membership in
Omicron Delta Kappa at Union College. ==References==