In Memoriam - Ronald J. Harris
by Yanick Rice Lamb, Ph.D., professor.
Ronald J. Harris loved to tell stories. He told them as a veteran journalist and as an instructor through high school and college students following in his footsteps. He also told the stories of Howard University Hospital, all health programs, the School of Divinity and Alternative Spring Break as a director in the Office of University Communications.
Harris also loved sailing. Lost at sea for two days, Harris, 73, died in a sailing accident off the coast of Georgia in August. A memorial service will be held for Harris from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Friday, Sept. 19, at The Oliver, 2715 Georgia Ave.
“His legacy lives in his former students like me,” said Ashley Southall, now a correspondent at the New York Times.
Another former student, Rachel Huggins, described Harris as “a fierce and meticulous editor” who not only taught her how to write, but also to write with purpose.
“I walked into his Journalism 101 class begrudgingly — and left with a master class in discipline, grit and old-fashioned news reporting,” said Huggins, a strategic communications consultant who has worked at Vox, USA Today and The Hill.
Harris’ legacy also lives on through the Howard University News Service, which he founded with former journalism chair Phillip Dixon. He was diligent about helping student reporters grasp the importance of providing excellent stories on deadline for news service partners, especially the Black Press, represented by the 200-member National Newspaper Publishers Association.
As a testament to his legacy, the Society of Professional Journalists has twice honored HUNewsService.com as the Best Independent Online Student Publication in 2012 and 2025. Harris also served as “election czar,” coordinating award-winning coverage of several presidential races dating back to Barack Obama’s historic run in 2008.
In addition to the Department of Media, Journalism and Film at Howard, Harris taught journalism at the University of Southern California, the University of Maryland, Columbia College in Chicago and the high school program developed by the Greater St. Louis Association of Black Journalists.
Harris was also instrumental in launching the careers of legions of journalists as the inaugural director of METPRO, the highly regarded Minority Editorial Training Program at the Los Angeles Times, and director of metro recruitment and development. He was also an editor, a columnist, a national correspondent and a foreign correspondent in Brazil, where he supervised the Rio de Janeiro bureau. In addition, he was part of the metro team that won a Pulitzer Prize for coverage of the riots following the Rodney King verdict.
At the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, he held various positions as an editor, social justice team leader, editorial writer, general assignment reporter and national correspondent. One of his most impactful reporting roles was being embedded with the Weapons Company, 3rd Battalion, 7th Marines in Salman Pak, Iraq.
A journalism graduate of Clark Atlanta University, Harris started his career at the Memphis Press-Scimitar in his hometown and later worked at Ebony magazine. He was also an editor and editorial consultant at the Afro-American Newspaper chain, based in Baltimore.
His storytelling also came in the form of books as co-author with Matthew Horace of “The Black and the Blue: A Cop Reveals the Crimes, Racism and Injustice in America's Law Enforcement.” He also worked with Harry Dunn on “Standing My Ground: A Capitol Police Officer's Fight for Accountability and Good Trouble After January 6th” as well as a new children’s book, “A Live Action Hero: Standing Up for Democracy.”
To support future generations of storytellers, the Cathy Hughes School of Communications is requesting donations to help raise an initial $100,000 for the Ron Harris Scholarship Fund at Howard University.
Harris is survived by his brother, Gerard Harris; his sons, Tracy Harris and Ohaji Abdallah; his daughter, Nykeba Newsum; his grandchildren Kyle Brown-Harris, Imani Abdallah and Omari Abdallah; and his great grandson, Jayden Brown-Harris.