
The annual award is presented in recognition of excellence in teaching and instruction. Harris’s current research, teaching and community-university engagement focus on food justice and youth restorative justice. She has investigated the impact of federal policy on the abilities of historically Black land-grant institutions to address the needs of the rural poor. Dr. Harris is a past president of the Southern Rural Sociological Society.
Dr. Harris holds a bachelor’s degree in tropical agriculture and a master’s degree in environmental health from the University of Hawaii. She earned a Ph.D. in rural sociology from Pennsylvania State University.


