“The greatest people will be those who possess the best capacities, cultivated with the best habits.” – James Andrew Harris
Harris grew up Waco, Texas with a single mother. With help from his aunt, Harris obtained his bachelor’s degree in chemistry in 1953 from Huston-Tillotson College in Austin. He struggled to find work as a chemist due to his race, as employers insisted that a Black man was unqualified to work in science. Harris eventually landed a job as a radiochemist at Tracerlab in California; however, his best work was at Berkeley National Laboratory. Thanks to Harris’s persistence and scientific acumen, his team discovered two elements: element 104, rutherfordium, and 105, dubnium. He was awarded an honorary PhD from Houston-Tilliston College and Merit Awards from the National Urban League.