Background
Harris, Marcelite Jordan was born on January 16, 1943 in Houston, Texas, United States. Daughter of Cecil Oneal and Marcelite Elizabeth (Terrell) Jordan.
Harris, Marcelite Jordan was born on January 16, 1943 in Houston, Texas, United States. Daughter of Cecil Oneal and Marcelite Elizabeth (Terrell) Jordan.
Bachelor, Spelman College, 1964. Postgraduate, Central Michigan University, 1975. Postgraduate, crwa. State University, 1976.
Postgraduate, Chapman College, 1980. Bachelor of Science, University Maryland, Okinawa, Japan, 1986.
She was commissioned through Officer Training School, Lackland Air Force Base, Texas in 1965 and held a variety of assignments in the Air Force. Marcelite Harris’s career included many “firsts”, as she was the first female aircraft maintenance officer, one of the first two female air officers commanding at the United States Air Force Academy, and the Air Force’s first female Director of Maintenance. She served as a White House social aide during the Carter administration.
Harris retired as a major general in 1997, the highest ranking female officer in the Air Force and the Nation’s highest ranking African American woman in the Department of Defense.
Upon retirement from the Air Force, Harris served National Aeronautics and Space Administration as the Florida Site Director and Logistics Process Owner for United Space Alliance, the company managing the Nation’s Shuttle Program. Besides her Spelman Bachelor of Arts, she holds a Bachelor of Surgery in Business Management from the University of Maryland University College.
In 1999, Harris was awarded an Honorary Doctorate Degree from Spelman College. Major General Harris is now Treasurer of the Atlanta Branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and serves as a Director on the Board of Peachtree Hope Charter School.
The Board inquires into the morale, discipline, curriculum, instruction, physical equipment, fiscal affairs, academic methods and other matters relating to the Academy which the Board decides to consider.
The Board meets at least four times per year, with at least two of those meetings at the Academy. The Board prepares semi-annual reports containing its views and recommendations pertaining to the Academy. Each written report is submitted concurrently to the Secretary of Defense, through the Secretary of the Air Force, and to the Committee on Armed Services of the Senate and the Committee on Armed Services of the House of Representatives.
General
Harris was married to Maurice A. Harris (deceased). 1990 - Woman of the Year, National Organization of Tuskegee Airmen, also listed in "Who"s Who Among Black Americans", "Who"s Who in America and "Who"s Who Among American Business Women".
Cabinet member United Way, Oklahoma City, 1991. Member of advisory board SalvationArmy, Oklahoma City, since 1991. Board directors United States Automobile Association, since 1993, 5 Who Care, 1992, Urban League.
Member American Association of University Women, Air Force Association (life), Tuskegee Airmen Inc. (life), Maintenance Officer Association, Retired Officer Association, Retired Officer Association, Delta Sigma Theta.
Married Maurice Anthony Harris, November 29, 1980 (deceased January 1996). Children: Steven Eric, Tenecia Marcelite.