A pioneering 48-year career
Grace E. Harris, Ph.D., (1933-2018) helped shape Virginia Commonwealth University during a pioneering 48-year career at the university. She joined the social work faculty at Richmond Professional Institute in 1967, a year before the school merged with the Medical College of Virginia to form VCU, and she would prove to be an integral part of the university’s foundation and growth in the ensuing decades.
Over the course of her career, Harris would rise to the position of provost and vice president for academic affairs at VCU, becoming the first African-American woman to serve as the chief academic officer at a four-year public university in Virginia.
“Throughout our 180-year history, a handful of people have been so vital to the story of Virginia Commonwealth University that their names are forever linked with ours. One of those people was Grace Harris. She was a giant in legacy and in character, a woman whose contributions to VCU and to the countless lives we touch are truly immeasurable."
Establishing the Grace E. Harris Leadership Institute
Following her retirement in 1999, the VCU Board of Visitors established the Grace E. Harris Leadership Institute to honor Harris’s exemplary service to the university. The institute continues Harris’s legacy and spirit of collaboration, equity, and partnership, which she modeled throughout her service to the university. Harris stepped down from her post as a distinguished professor at the institute in December 2015.
Education
Grace E. Harris, Ph.D., graduated high school from Halifax Training School in 1950, where she was class valedictorian. Harris attended Hampton Institute, now Hampton University, and spent a semester at Grinnell College in 1952 as an exchange student. She was involved in a program designed to promote interracial understanding at both schools. At that time, she was one of five African Americans at Grinnell.
Harris received her Bachelor of Science in sociology from Hampton Institute, graduating with the highest honors. Originally denied admission to Richmond Professional Institute of the College of William & Mary (now VCU) in 1954 during Virginia’s massive resistance, Harris attended Boston University in 1954‐55. She would later return to Richmond and receive her Master of Social Work from RPI in 1960.
She received a Master of Arts and Doctor of Philosophy degree in sociology from the University of Virginia in 1974 and 1975.
Career
Beginning her career in 1955, Harris was a caseworker in Hampton, Va., in the Department of Public Welfare until 1957, and eventually a caseworker and supervisor in the Department of Welfare and Institutions in Richmond, Va.
In 1963, she became executive director of the Friends' Association for Children and director of the Richmond Community Action Program. From 1967 to 1976, Harris was an assistant professor at the VCU School of Social Work. During her last year as an assistant professor, she was director of student affairs.
In 1976, she became an associate professor. Two years later, Harris was named associate dean of the School of Social Work, a role she maintained until 1980. In the year following, she was named Fellow in Academic Administration for the American Council on Education, which was an internship with the president and vice president for academic affairs at VCU.
In 1990, she was named vice provost for continuing studies and public service. In 1993, she became the first African American and first woman provost and vice president for academic affairs in VCU’s history. In 1995 and 1998, she was named acting president of VCU.
Following her retirement from her position as provost and vice president for academic affairs in 1999, the VCU Board of Visitors established the Grace E. Harris Leadership Institute to honor Harris’s exemplary service to the university. The institute continues Harris’s legacy and spirit of collaboration, equity, and partnership modeled throughout her service to the university. Harris stepped down from her post as a distinguished professor at the institute in December 2015.
Community service
Active in community organizations in the Richmond area, Harris served on numerous boards, task forces, and commissions. She was a founding board member of the Richmond Women’s Bank and served on the advisory board of the Virginia Health Care Foundation and the Virginia Commission on Higher Education Appointments. Harris also was vice chair of Gov. Mark Warner’s transition team — Put Virginia First. She was also involved with the establishment of John B. Cary Elementary School.
Awards
Harris received many awards and honors for her professional and community contributions, including VCU’s Presidential Medallion. She was cited for her leadership in establishing VCU's first‐ever long‐range strategic plan.
The university also awarded her the Presidential Award for Community Multicultural Enrichment and the Riese‐Mellon Award.
Harris received honorary degrees from the College of William & Mary, the University of Richmond, and Virginia Union University and was recognized as Educator of the Year by the Richmond Chapter of the National Coalition of Black Women.
In 2007, a campus building, Grace E. Harris Hall, was dedicated in her honor for her longstanding leadership, service, and contributions to VCU. The Virginia General Assembly passed House Joint Resolution No. 513 in 2012, commending Grace Edmondson Harris. She received the John Jasper Trailblazer Award in 2014.
Harris was also inducted into Omicron Delta Kappa, a national leadership honor society, in 2014, joining other leadership luminaries, including Margaret Thatcher, Jimmy Carter, Shirley Chisholm, George H.W. Bush, Hillary Rodham Clinton, and Tim Kaine. In 2015, Harris received an honorary doctorate from the College of William & Mary.
In addition, Harris was inducted into the Richmond Times-Dispatch Person of the Year Hall of Fame for lifetime achievements in the region.
Personal life
Harris was married to James “Dick” Harris. They are survived by their two children, who continue her legacy — one as a social worker and the other through employment at VCU. Harris has one grandson, of whom she was most proud. He is an alum of William & Mary and Virginia Commonwealth University.