Dr. Harris is a Professor of Administration and Supervision in the College of Education, Scholar in African-American Studies and Research in the College of Arts and Sciences, and Chair of the President's Commission on Diversity at the University of Kentucky. His primary responisbilities include providing the University with teaching, research, and service and providing the schools of the Commonwealth and the nation with research and consultation services.

Prior to his current assignment, Dr. Harris served five years as Professor and Dean of the College of Education at the University of Kentucky and three years as Professor and Dean of the College of Education at Cleveland State Univeristy. During his 11-year tenure at Indiana Univeristy, Bloomington-Indianapolis, Dr. Harris served in various academic, administrative and leadership capacities. He was Professor and Chairman of the Division of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies in the School of Education, Director of the Indiana University Center fro Urban and Multicultrual Education (CUME), Associate Director for the Office of School Programs, and Special Assistant to the Dean.

From 1973 through 1976, Dr. Harris served as assistant professor at the Pennsylvania State University in University Park. He was, at the same time, a state urban curriculum specialist and a program coordinator under the aegis of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). In addition, he has taught grades K through 10 and was an assistant principal in the Detroit Public Schools from 1968 to 1973.

Dr. Harris has also worked with school districts, governmental agencies, private businesses, and other higher education institutions as a consultant in management, urban education, educational law, and community relations. His other professional experiences include work as a consultant, resource procurer, project director, assistant principal, and teacher in which his major duties included unit administration and evaluation of instructional programs in several federally funded projects.

J. John Harris III received the Doctor of Philosophy degree from the University of Michigan with a major in Educational Administration and Supervision, a minor in Educational Psychology, and a cognate in Psychology. His Master's degree, also from the Univeristy of Michigan, included majors in the Behavioral Sciences in Education and Educational Administration and Supervision. He earned his Bachelor of Science degree from Wayne State University, Detroit. Professor Harris belongs to a variety of national honorary, shcolarly, and professional organizations, and he has published extensively.

Dr. Harris is a native of Altoona, Pennsylvania. He is the parent of a daughter, Julie who is a graduate of the Univeristy of Michigan and a practing attorney in Florida.