People and Events
Raytheon's Harris named 2010 Black Engineer of Year
By USBE&IT
Feb 15, 2010, 23:59

More than just the name atop a company organizational chart, Raytheon Vice President of Contracts and Supply Chain John D. Harris is an inspiration. Proactively involved in promoting technology in the $25-billion firm that employs 75,000 people worldwide, Harris has spent his 26-year career working with the defense systems and commercial electronics community.
 
As a corporate leader in one of the world’s largest engineering companies, Harris leads Raytheon's supply-chain management organization, which is responsible for bringing in technologies to support aerospace and defense products. He is responsible for identifying technology companies and developing innovative capabilities within their businesses.

"John's career has been characterized by tremendous achievement and a determination to inspire others to reach their full potential," said William H. Swanson, chairman and CEO of Raytheon Company. "His professional accomplishments are matched by a lifelong commitment to community service." Harris is an active supporter of organizations like the Urban League of Eastern Massachusetts, the Executive Leadership Council and the Executive Leadership Council Foundation.

Broad Reach in Diversity

Swanson appointed Harris as Raytheon’s 2006 Executive Diversity Champion, and in that post Harris led diversity and inclusion efforts throughout the organization. During his two-year term, Harris created Raytheon’s Executive Diversity Leadership team, which continues to act as a liaison between management and employees on issues of diversity.

”What is most unique about John are his multi-dimensional successes,” said Chief Diversity Officer Hayward L. Bell. He describes Harris as an outstanding executive diversity champion, who helped shift the company’s paradigms on diversity and inclusion, while simultaneously making strides in creating a world-class supply-chain organization and integrating critical company functions of contract management.
 
“During John’s tenure as executive diversity champion,” Bell recalls, “ he elevated the company dialogue on this important business issue and engaged the CEO and company officers at every one of their meetings to advance strategy and develop ground breaking policy.”

Says Dr. Louise Young, a senior software engineer and winner of the Raytheon Diversity Hero award, “I still recall John’s introductory speech as [executive] diversity champion at Raytheon’s annual diversity summit.”

The 400-strong audience, which included managers, diversity and inclusion professionals and representatives from employee resource groups, “was spell-bound by John’s charisma and eloquence. He inspired us all to be leaders in creating an inclusive culture,” Young said.
 
Taking a Business Approach

Working with Bell over his two-year term, Harris strengthened Raytheon’s Executive Diversity Council with business leaders and diversity practitioners and drove accountability for results and leadership behavioral change through improved metrics.
Harris also worked with Tuskegee University in advocating for a new engineering center that would enable students to gain knowledge in a facility complete with state-of-the-art technology.
 
“It’s clear John is committed to Raytheon’s vision of excellence and inclusion, “ said David Anderson, department manager, Network Centric Systems. “His accomplishments in this role helped shift the organization and the accountability of this position.”

Harris consistently makes himself available as a keynote speaker or a panel participant. “Essentially, anything he can do to support our external diversity related relationships,” Bell added. At the 2009 National Society of Black Engineers event, the student conference had a dedicated John Harris Day. “They wanted to recognize his support and commitment to NSBE and diversity,” Anderson explains.
 
Influence with Company Partners

 “John Harris is equally influential in establishing an environment for diverse suppliers and subcontractors, “ observes Valecia D. Maclin, a director in the homeland security & secure systems department of Raytheon’s Information Solutions business unit. “Under his leadership, Raytheon has been recognized with numerous supplier diversity awards from the United States government and from our industry peers,” she adds. “He has fostered an environment which offers continued growth and development of minority businesses that deliver science and technology solutions—crating opportunities for professionals within the field.”

Harris began his career more than 25 years ago as a new graduate in Raytheon’s contracts leadership development program. His job was focused on building relationships with suppliers—on the phone, sometimes over the course of many months.
 
“When we’d finally meet, face-to-face, some would react, ‘Oh … you’re John Harris?’ ” he said. “I could tell their surprise was in response to my race, or my young age, or both.”  
 
Early On, a Comer

Rebecca Rhoads, currently vice president and CIO, recalls her first meeting with Harris 11 years ago. “We were both on the leadership team for the electronic systems business unit. Within a short time of meeting him, it was clear that John would be instrumental in rebuilding Raytheon,” she said.
 
“Brilliant, systems thinker, outstanding strategist” are just a few of the adjectives she used to describe Harris. Plus, while he is now a seasoned veteran, “John continues to focus on his development, showing dignity, accessibility, humility … all the ‘right stuff’ of a true leader and a powerful role model,” Rhoads says.
 
Tall, well-dressed, charismatic Harris has a smile and engaging manner that puts people at ease. His achievements have gone from being an individual contributor within the contracts arena to vice president of two of Raytheon’s organizations. Combined, contracts and supply chain are responsible for multi-billion dollars in budget outlays, as they manage thousands of active contracts and generate a huge number of purchase orders worth billions of dollars while working with thousands of suppliers.

Fluid in nature, contracts and supply-chain functions are key to making sure the leading defense contractor keeps its edge as the company expands. Worthy of note also is that to lead two organizations with such cohesion, as they both work in lockstep with six other businesses within Raytheon, is to embody strategic thinking, teamwork, decision-making and passion for Raytheon’s people. 
 
Leading by Example

An outstanding business leader and corporate citizen, Harris challenges and invigorates employees to create innovative ways of doing business with new and existing customers. He is also a leader who passes along his ethics and values through mentoring.
 
“During the many conferences over the years, John has taken time to spend one-on-one sessions with students and employees,” said Lawanda Penland, a regional strategic engineering staffing lead in Network Centric Systems and chair for the North Texas-based employee resource group, Raytheon Black Employees Network.
 
Harris’ journey and his accomplishments “inspire hope for those who are still struggling to achieve their career goals, especially young men and women of color, who have few executive role models in corporate America,” said Daisy M. Jenkins, vice president for Human Resources “His story is also important because of his rich multicultural background.” 

Life-Shaping Experiences

Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, Harris’s father graduated from high school at 14 years of age and received a full scholarship to the University of Cincinnati, where he studied to become a chemical engineer. Yet, because of the color of his skin, he couldn’t find a job that challenged him. Instead he spent his days in the sewers, checking valves for the city Works Department. Later, the family moved to Boston, and John’s father found more fulfilling work, first with IBM and then Raytheon, where he worked on components for NASA’s Apollo Space program.
 
Growing up in Boston’s Roxbury neighborhood, young John Harris had some life-shaping experiences. One of them was when he was elected vice president of his school’s 4-H Club. The rub was that both John and his best friend received the same number of votes for the president’s job. In a masterful show of strategic thinking, John ceded the title to his friend on condition that he, John, could make all the decisions. 
 
When Harris’ family moved to France, he seized on the opportunity to learn the language and immerse himself in French culture, taking the advice of a community activist and civil rights advocate who played a pivotal role in establishing labor rights for African American workers and voting rights for women of all ethnicities. 
 
He Champions as He Rises

Through out his 26-year Raytheon career, Harris has held positions of increasing responsibility, including deputy division manager of contracts for Raytheon electronic systems and VP for Raytheon’s technical services company. He became an elected officer of Raytheon Company in June 2003. As a member of Raytheon’s senior leadership team, he reports directly to the chairman and CEO. He participates in the operational management and strategic planning, providing leadership for Raytheon’s contracts, export/import operations and supply chain functions.
 
Harris also champions Raytheon's MathMovesU program, an initiative designed to engage middle-school students in math by illustrating the connection between math, their passions and interests and “cool” careers. Since its inception in 2005 to help spur interest in math and science, Raytheon's MathMovesU program has touched the lives of more than 700,000 students, teachers and parents. Through interactive learning programs, contests, live events, scholarships, tutoring programs and more, MathMovesU engages and inspires students.
 
Harris is a staunch supporter of the National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development, the National Minority Supplier Development Council, and the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council. He sits on the board for the National Contact Management Association, The Executive Leadership Council and Foundation, Exostar, and the Procurement and Finance Executive Council Committee of the Aerospace Industries Association. 
 
Embrace Differences’ for Growth

“You have to be willing to take a chance on yourself,” he said. “Race, age, experience, geography, language, none of these should restrict you. All of these are assets. We should be willing to embrace differences. 
 
"I'm honored to have been selected for this prestigious career achievement," Harris said. "I'm especially proud because this award is also a tribute to Raytheon's unwavering commitment to the important principles espoused by BEYA since its inception 24 years ago."

 “Diversity is critical to Raytheon’s success in that it encourages us to look out of the box for innovative approaches and solutions to meet the needs of our customers,” Harris says. “When we do so, we are able to collaborate, leverage technology and build relationships that will help drive our competitiveness.”