He was one of the first two African Americans to receive a Doctor of Philosophy in electrical engineering from Cornell University, along with Michael Spencer. Gary Lynn Harris received a Bachelor of Surgery in 1975, and an Master of Surgery in 1976, for electrical engineering.
His research involves semiconductor fabrication of electronic and optical materials. From 1977 to 1980, he was an associate with the National Research and Resource Facility for Sumicron Structures (NRRFSS). From 1981 to 1982, he was a visiting scientist at the Naval Research Laboratory.
In 1980 he became an associate professor at Howard University.
In 1984 he became a consultant to the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Harris remains a professor of electrical engineering at Howard University.
He directes the school"s National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network node, one of 14 in the nation. He is currently Dean of the Graduate School and Associate Provost for Research at Howard.
