Dr. Harris has served as Director of BioEnergy and Family and Consumer Sciences Divisions in USDA-National Institute of Food and Agriculture. He leads the investments in applied research and education related to small business innovation, bioenergy and biobased products. His academic and industry careers are dedicated to food and agriculture industries.

Prior to his joining USDA-NIFA, Dr. Harris served as Associate Professor of Agricultural Economics at Kansas State University. Harris taught agricultural economics and agribusiness management courses to senior managers, graduate, and undergraduate students. His teaching pedagogy accentuates decision-making in the real-life context in agribusiness. Dr. Harris’ scholarly research in transaction cost economics, network analysis and economic sociology spotlight organizations that collaborate strategically experience a marked increase in competitiveness and sustain performance. The findings are published in peer-reviewed academic journals, public press and presented at industry and academic conferences.

Dr. Harris professional experiences include a 20-year industry career with increasing accountability managing agricultural commodity trading, supply chain management strategies, and global purchasing with multi-national consumer packaged goods companies including General Mills Inc., Sara Lee Inc, and Farmland/Smithfield Foods Inc. In addition, he served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Honduras, C.A. as an Agribusiness Advisor where he worked to market tropical agricultural cash crops for rural communities.

Dr. Harris earned a Ph.D. in Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology from the University of Missouri- Columbia as a USDA National Needs Sustainability Doctoral Fellow. Harris earned a master’s degree in Agribusiness from Kansas State University, and a Bachelor of Science degree in Agricultural Economics from Lincoln University. Dr. Harris has served as a board of director, advisory member, strategic planning committees for-profit, academic and community-based organizations that are invested in food and agriculture.