Lee Harris Wants to be SCDP Chair

Lee Harris was born and raised in South Memphis, attended public schools, and is presently a professor at the University of Memphis. He has a long history of community activism, political experience, and leadership. Among other notable activities, Harris has worked for two members of Congress, two presidential campaigns, written one book, and speaks regularly around the country on issues of public policy and law.

In 2005, he announced his campaign for U.S. Congress. The campaign was a 9-month, grassroots efforts, in which Harris spoke about issues that mattered mostly to working families, including early childhood education, a living wage, and healthcare. The campaign was mostly a volunteer and community service effort in which Harris campaigned around Memphis and Shelby County in his trademark Yellow School Bus, holding community rallies to highlight and respond to issues such as crime prevention, wages of restaurant workers, and education.

After the campaign, Harris returned to his long history of service to the community, including service with Goodwill Homes Community Services Organization, a South Memphis non-profit that provides services to seniors, including senior living facilities and administers an early childhood education program for 4-year olds called Head Start. At Goodwill Homes, Harris has served on the board of directors for half-a-dozen years and has chaired the Head Start program for 2 years.

Beginning in 2007, Lee Harris joined the John Edwards campaign, because John Edwards spoke about lifting people out of poverty and empowering working families. Harris was extensively involved with the John Edwards for Memphis campaign, holding organizational meetings at his home and pushing for John Edwards to visit Memphis, which he did and became the only major candidate to come to Memphis during the 2008 presidential cycle.

When Barak Obama won the nomination, Harris (and family) moved to Washington DC to try to play a more active role in the Obama campaign and national policy. He was able to join several Obama national policy committees, which held national organizational meetings and developed policy papers for the campaign. He also invited recruited other Memphians to join the Obama’s national policy team and was successful in getting at least one other invitation from the campaign for a Memphian to join. Harris’ efforts on the Obama campaign were rewarded with two tickets to one of the most momentous events our time, Barack Obama’s inauguration.

LEE HARRIS RESUME
968 River Landing Drive, Memphis, TN 38103 • (901) 210.4429 • lee.harris@aya.yale.edu

EDUCATION
Yale Law School, J.D., 2003
• Activities & Honors: Coker Teaching Fellow in Contracts; Economics Teaching Fellow; Earl Warren Legal Scholarship (NAACP Legal Defense Fund)
Morehouse College, B.A., 2000 (Major: International Studies/ Minor: Economics) (graduated in top 10)
• Activities & Honors: Magna Cum Laude; Phi Beta Kappa; Tobe Johnson Award for the Political Science Student of the Year; Departmental Recognition for Highest G.P.A.; Fellow, Institute for International Public Policy; Congressional Black Caucus Foundation Scholarship, 1997-2000; Morehouse Full Tuition Scholarship (1996-2000)
London School of Economics and Political Science, Visiting Student, 1998-99
Overton High School in Memphis (graduated 4th in class)

CURRENT AND PREVIOUS APPOINTMENTS

Current Appointment
Associate Professor of Law, University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law, Memphis, TN, September 2009-present (Assistant Professor of Law, 2005 to 2009)
• Classes: Contracts I, Contracts II, Business Organizations, Social Welfare Law and Policy (Poverty Law)

Previous Appointments
Visiting Associate Professor of Law, George Washington University School of Law, Washington, DC, 2007-2008
• Classes: Contracts I, Corporations.
Visiting Professor of Business Law, Ecole de Management/School of Management, Grenoble, France (invited to give short course on Business Law to international M.B.A. students) (December 2007)

SELECTED ACTIVITIES, PRESENTATIONS & PUBLICATIONS
1. Speaker, Memphis Urban High School Debate Competition, University of Memphis School of Education, February 20, 2009.
2. Commencement Remarks, United Negro College Fund-Institute for International Public Policy Graduation Ceremony, Washington DC, July 18, 2008
3. Moderator/Facilitator, Rule of Law Conference, Federal Courthouse, Memphis, TN, August 4, 2007
4. Guest Blogger, www.BlackProf.com, May 2007
5. Speaker, “Authentic Blacks or Sympathetic Whites or Neither: An Assessment of the Goals of Majority-Minority Districts”, Rhodes College, Memphis, TN, September 15, 2006
6. Panelist, Tennessee Institute for Pre-Law Program for Minority Students Interested in Law School, March 2, 2006
7. Speaker, “Progression of Minorities in Social Welfare Programs,” Black Law Students
Association Conference, University of Memphis School of Law, February 28, 2006
8. Panelist, Young, Gifted & Elected Panel, Morehouse College, February 20, 2006
9. Moderator, Ethics Panel, Mid-South Democrats in Action, January 2006
10. Moderator and Organizer, “Wake of The Storm: The Legal Community Assesses Katrina’s Havoc,” University of Memphis-Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law, Sept. 27, 2005
11. Op-ed, Mayor’s Quid Pro Quo May be A Deal Too Clever by Half The Commercial Appeal (Memphis), March 28, 2008
12. Op-ed, Let Patients Know Facts About Doctors The Commercial Appeal (Memphis), August, 7, 2005
13. Commentary, Don't Sing the Blues; Know Your Rights Regarding Police Misconduct Grace Magazine (Memphis), July/August, 2004
14. Op-ed, Reparations Aren’t Just About Money The Commercial Appeal (Memphis), June 10, 2002

SELECTED COMMUNITY SERVICE AND POLITICAL EXPERIENCE

Obama Economics, Globalization and Trade (EGT) Policy Committee; Small Business
Subcommittee.
Democratic Candidates for U.S. Congress (TN-09)
US Congressman Harold Ford, Jr. (D-TN) (Congressional Black Caucus Scholar and Volunteer/Intern)
US Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney (D-GA) (Congressional Black Caucus Scholar and Intern)
Memphis Bar Association – House of Delegates
Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Greater Memphis
Board of Directors - Young Lawyers Division - Memphis Bar Association
Public Service Committee – Young Lawyers Division – Memphis Bar Association
Co-Coordinator of District 1 (Western Tennessee) High School Mock Trial Competition
Board of Directors, Goodwill Homes of Greater Memphis
Memphis Urban High School Debate
American Inns of Court (invitation-only organization dedicating to promoting ethics in legal
profession)
American Trial Lawyers Association (Law Professor Member)
Fellow, Institute for International Public Policy
Lifetime Member, Morehouse Alumni Association
NAACP
Socrates Society of Aspen Institute (program for emerging leaders)
American, Tennessee and Memphis Bar Associations