Steering Committee 

Professor Mark T. Harris, J.D.  

Professor Harris currently practices law in Beverly Hills, California and teaches management and public policy at the University of California, Merced.

During 2009, Professor Harris was appointed by former California Assembly Speaker Karen Bass to the Board of Directors of the California State Assistance Fund for Enterprise, Business and Industrial Development Corporation (“SAFE-BIDCO”). He will serve on the board for an initial two-year term.

Professor Harris has taught on the faculties of several prestigious California universities including, the University of California, Merced; the University of Southern California; the University of the Pacific and Mills College and during the summer of 2011, will teach doctoral candidates at Shanghai Normal University in Shanghai, China. Professor Harris has lectured extensively in both graduate and undergraduate courses of study including public policy, business management, business law, business ethics and education law. Professor Harris’ expertise is in infrastructure finance, education finance and international trade.

During December of 2008, Professor Harris was asked by Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson to join his transition team and chair that body’s transportation policy committee. After six weeks of research and analysis, the committee produced a “white paper” which has been used by the mayor as a template for several municipal transportation policy initiatives.

During 1994 and 1995, Mr. Harris was honored to receive the opportunity to serve in the Administration of the Honorable William Jefferson Clinton in Washington, D.C. While in our nation’s capital, he served as the Deputy Chief of Staff to the Secretary of the United States Department of Commerce, the late Ronald H. Brown. In the spirit of Secretary Brown, Professor Harris proudly serves as a member of the Board of Directors of the Bay Area World Trade Center.

After graduating from the University of California, Berkeley’s Boalt Hall School of Law, and serving as a law clerk to the former chief judge of the United States District Court for the Central District of California, Mr. Harris was admitted to practice in California. Attorney Harris has been a member of the State Bar of California for over twenty-five years and is proud to have never received a disciplinary complaint of any kind. Mr. Harris is also a licensed securities professional having served as a managing director and officer with two of Wall Street’s premier financial services companies: Bear Stearns and Company and PaineWebber, Inc. (now “UBS/PaineWebber”).

Professor Harris is married to Dr. Marianna Y. Harris. They are the proud parents of accomplished student-athletes Eric and Martin Harris and reside in Sacramento, California.