Comments Upon the Presentation of Richard Harris' Award for 40 Years of Service to UNT at the Service Recognition Awards Program, December 9, 2003

Richard Harris is the Associate Vice President for Computing and Information Technology and he actually arrived at North Texas State several years before his hire date as a staff member in 1963. He is a native of this area, and before higher education captured him, he might just have readily made a career in cattle ranching and in his family’s grocery and feed store business. How that scenario didn’t come to pass is a matter of fortuitous times and circumstances, and, could probably only happen in Texas.

Richard, like so many of the staff, began his career here first as a student, then as a student employee. When an opportunity to enter Higher Education administration arose, it was not a planned career move. He was close to finishing his Masters in Mathematics, and was working part time as a student programmer in the “Tab Room” of the Computing Center. Now at this time there was no academic Computer Sciences department. The discipline was absolutely embryonic.  And the University’s equipment consisted of a single IBM computer that the administration had bought - on someone’s advice - but there was no administrative programming for it yet, and some old tabulating machines, which were still being used to get anything tabulated.  When the faculty director of the Tab Room was offered a job at NASA, there was, to put it mildly, a sudden crisis of leadership.  

Richard wasn’t the most senior worker. He wasn’t even the most senior student worker. However, he apparently had the Right Stuff, because President Matthews decided to take a chance on this young man with the flat-top haircut and the Buddy Holly glasses, and he offered Richard the opportunity to become the temporary Director of the Tab unit, and shortly afterwards the opportunity to take on the responsibility for administrative data processing functions as well. This may have been the most far-reaching decision of the Matthews presidency, since its impact has resounded now for 40 plus years.

Richard’s wife Joneel says he wore the glasses so he would look older, and I guess they were effective with the President. However, it was just as well that he was young and apparently, unafraid. As one colleague notes, “If Richard could have foreseen the rocket ride that the growth of computing in the university would take him and his staff on, he might have panicked.” Instead, he has steered the University through numerous changes in our information systems and through millions of dollars of critical investment decisions, from the days of yellow top cards, punch card decks and disk storage devices, to the latest web-based technology, all with characteristic courtesy, modesty, the memory of a search engine, and good humor. 

Richard is very active in the field of information sciences administration and maintains numerous state and national contacts. He was for years the youngest computing center director in the state; now he is one of the most recognized and influential. He was instrumental in the founding of the statewide organization of computing administrators for state-supported institutions and agencies and served as its second president. He was also nominated recently for Outstanding Professional of the Society for Information Management.

Year after year he demonstrates high-level judgment, decision making, professionalism, and character in meeting the University’s computing and communications needs. He deals with numerous campus councils and committees, and shepherds us through many difficult choices, some of them unsung, some high profile, and not all of them universally popular. That is why they are difficult choices. In the Computing Center there is a standing joke, it’s an inside joke but some of us will get this:  “I’m sure GroupWise was the right decision.” 

Richard enjoys many hobbies, among them clay target shooting, and recently he earned the distinction, on his birthday, of achieving 100 straight shots in sequence. He and his wife are strong supporters of UNT and charter members of the President’s Council. He also enjoys bacon in considerable quantity, but never eggs.

And now, Richard, to honor you with gifts, we have first, the eagle plate. And, since you have been responsible for commitments to so many significant purchases, we wanted you to be assured that we used appropriate project management procedure regarding your next gift. First we issued an RFP. We consulted with campus subject matter experts and reached a consensus. Our project team leader researched and analyzed the available systems and options, and came back with a product that is both consistent with our mission and addresses long-term needs, then a primary vendor and consultants were selected, and finally, we brought the project in on budget and within timeline, although you may be disappointed that the vendors didn’t offer any free hardware or software to sweeten the deal. Richard, we have established and made the first contribution to a new, endowed UNT scholarship in your honor that will benefit UNT Freshmen entering the information sciences fields. Our contribution to this scholarship expresses our sincere thanks for your exceptional and dedicated service over 40 years.