Jerry M. Harris is an American geophysicist and the Cecil and Ida Green Professor of Geophysics at

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

. Harris established the Stanford Wave Physics Lab, which investigate the physics of seismic and electromagnetic waves in complex media. He was co-founder of the Stanford

Global Climate and Energy Project The Global Climate and Energy Project (GCEP) at Stanford University, "seeks new solutions to one of the grand challenges of this century: supplying energy to meet the changing needs of a growing world population in a way that protects the environmen ...

and the Center for Computational Earth and Environmental Science.

Early life and education

Harris was born and raised in

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

. He was at school for the end of segregation, and eventually studied electrical engineering at the

University of Mississippi The University of Mississippi (byname Ole Miss) is a public research university that is located adjacent to Oxford, Mississippi, and has a medical center in Jackson. It is Mississippi's oldest public university and its largest by enrollment. ...

. He earned his undergraduate degree in 1973, and moved to the

California Institute of Technology The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech or CIT)The university itself only spells its short form as "Caltech"; the institution considers other spellings such a"Cal Tech" and "CalTech" incorrect. The institute is also occasional ...

(

Caltech The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech or CIT)The university itself only spells its short form as "Caltech"; the institution considers other spellings such a"Cal Tech" and "CalTech" incorrect. The institute is also occasional ...

) for his graduate work. Harris eventually earned his master's and doctoral degrees at Caltech. During his doctoral research, Harris became conscious that he was the only African-American student. After earning his doctorate, Harris worked in both the communications and petroleum industries. This included three years at

COMSAT COMSAT (Communications Satellite Corporation) is a global telecommunications company based in the United States. By 2007, it had branches in Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Mexico, Peru, Venezuela and several other countries in the Americas. A ...

, followed by four years at both

Exxon ExxonMobil Corporation (commonly shortened to Exxon) is an American multinational oil and gas corporation headquartered in Irving, Texas. It is the largest direct descendant of John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil, and was formed on November 30, ...

and

Standard Oil of Ohio The Standard Oil Company (Ohio) was an American oil company, a successor of the original company established in 1870 by John D. Rockefeller. It was established as "Standard Oil Company of Ohio" as one of the separate entities created after the ...

(SOHIO).

Research and career

In 1988 Harris joined

, where he established the Stanford Wave Physics Lab. The Stanford Wave Physics Lab investigate the physics of seismic and electromagnetic waves in complex media. During his tenure at

Stanford Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is considere ...

Harris served as Chair of the Department of Geophysics. In 2006 he founded the Center for Computational Earth and Environmental Science, a research partnership between the

School of Earth Sciences and Computer Science Laboratory. He was named the Cecil and Ida Green Professor at

in 2008. Harris primarily specialised in Crosswell seismic imaging; which can be used to produce high-resolution large scale images, an order of magnitude better than those produced by conventional seismic surveys. Images with such extraordinary resolution are important for reservoir management. Harris developed the sources for Crosswell data acquisition, including piezoelectric sources and low frequency pneumatic vibrators. Beyond Crosswell imaging, Harris studied the surface attenuation of seismic waves. To do this, Harris developed

acoustic resonance spectroscopy Acoustic resonance spectroscopy (ARS) is a method of spectroscopy in the acoustic region, primarily the sonic and ultrasonic regions. ARS is typically much more rapid than HPLC and NIR. It is non destructive and requires no sample preparation as t ...

, which could measure the Q factors of small sample rocks in the laboratory.

Academic service

Harris dedicated his career to improving diversity within geoscience research and industry. In 2000 he founded the Summer Undergraduate Research in Geoscience and Engineering (SURGE) programme, which supports minority students who are considering careers in the earth sciences. Over ninety percent of SURGE graduates went on to have careers in the earth sciences. In 2014 he partnered with the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

and

to launch the California Alliance for Graduate Education and the Professoriate; a consortium that looks to recruit more minority graduate students and faculty members. In 2015 Harris founded, and was subsequently made Associate Dean for the Office of Multicultural Affairs.

Awards and honours

* 1979

Hughes Aircraft Company The Hughes Aircraft Company was a major American aerospace and defense contractor founded on February 14, 1934 by Howard Hughes in Glendale, California, as a division of Hughes Tool Company. The company was known for producing, among other produ ...

Graduate Fellow * 1989

David and Lucile Packard Foundation The David and Lucile Packard Foundation is a private foundation that provides grants to not-for-profit organizations. It was created in 1964 by David Packard (co-founder of HP) and his wife Lucile Salter Packard. Following David Packard's death ...

Fellow * 1995

Society of Petroleum Engineers The Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit professional organization whose stated mission is "to collect, disseminate, and exchange technical knowledge concerning the exploration, development and production of oil and ...

Distinguished Lecturer * 2002

Society of Exploration Geophysicists The Society of Exploration Geophysicists (SEG) is a learned society dedicated to promoting the science and education of exploration geophysics in particular and geophysics in general. The Society fosters the expert and ethical practice of geophysi ...

Distinguished Lecturer * 2015

President's Award for Excellence Through Diversity

Select publications

* * *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, Jerry Living people Year of birth missing (living people) University of Mississippi alumni California Institute of Technology alumni Stanford University faculty American geophysicists