John E. Harris — II. The Clinician

Abstract

John E. Harris was born in Toledo, Ohio on December 27, 1913 and received his early education there. In 1936 he enrolled in the Graduate School of the State University of Iowa. It was here that John Harris and William Hart, as graduate students, and Kenneth C. Swan, as a resident in Ophthalmology, worked in adjacent laboratories in an isolated corner of the University Hospital in Iowa City. A lasting friendship was established, along with an interest in ophthalmic research. Later, all three were to become Professors and Chairmen of Ophthalmology Departments in American medical schools. John Harris received his Ph.D. in Biochemistry, then carried out research at the State University of Iowa and University of Pennsylvania. This was followed by four years in the Army. In 1946 he joined the Department of Ophthalmology at the University of Oregon Medical School, where Dr. Kenneth Swan had become Chairman. Dr. Harris continued his investigative work as a Research Associate while completing requirements for the degree in medicine, which he received in 1950. Although he devoted considerable time to research, John Harris had the outstanding scholastic record of his medical school class and was elected to the honorary medical society, Alpha Omega Alpha, in his third year.