Gibbs College Dean Hans Butzer and Karen Renfroe of the OU Foundation recently sat down with architecture alumnus Raymond Harris to learn more about his successful career along with his business and mentorship activities in retirement. Read on for highlights or see below to listen the full podcast.
Harris originally came to OU in the 1970s to pursue a pre-med degree; however, he soon discovered his passion for architecture. According to Harris, “I knew during my sophomore year at OU that I [had] found my niche. I loved it. From the moment I got into design one and two, I just knew that was what I was supposed to do.”
He explained, “My dad was a physician, my grandfather was a physician, so I was supposed to be a physician. I came to OU pre-med, and did really well my freshman year, but I absolutely did not enjoy it. So I walked over to the architecture school, primarily because that’s what I wanted to do, and that’s what my grandmother told me I should do because she knew me so well.”
Harris graduated from OU with a master’s degree in architecture and went on to work in the commercial architecture industry for several years. He was employed with a variety of respected firms in the Dallas area, and helped design several large-scale projects, including Dallas City Hall and projects on the University of North Texas campus and Parkland Hospital.
At age 27, Harris realized he was ready for a change and decided to open his own firm. “I really had an epiphany. I think it was God saying to me, ‘I don’t want you to be a great designer, I want you to be great at serving others, and let the others be great designers.’ And it changed my philosophy of who I pursued as clients,” he said. “I became more service-oriented than I was design-oriented, because I was really chasing after design projects.”
After 37 successful years in the industry, Harris sold his firm to the national architecture company BRR. Although he is now retired from his career as an architecture practitioner, Harris remains involved in a variety of different projects.
According to Harris, “Most people would just say [I’m] an investor, and that’s really what I am, I’m an investor. But I have so many other things I do. I’m an author, I’ve written numerous books that have been published. I’m an executive movie and music producer. I build economic engines through young men and women to affect culture and the economy in a positive way.”
However, Harris believes one of the best projects in which he has invested in is Gibbs College’s travel study program in Zambia. Harris visits Zambia frequently and is extremely invested in the local community. He had already been involved in pro bono work in the region, and this felt like the natural next step. According to Harris, “I thought it would be a wonderful opportunity for students to see what 90% of the world really looks like, instead of the 10% that we live in.”
He explained, “The first time I went to Zambia, to look at this project that we committed to do, I got off the plane and I felt so powerful. I thought I was so knowledgeable as an experienced architect. I had experience, I had money and I had time… After being there for about a week, I realized that I really didn’t know what I was talking about.”
Harris would like to continue to fund future trips to Zambia to help expand students’ mindsets.
“It’s wonderful to be exposed to things that make you uncomfortable, and then you’ve got to think through them,” he said. “I think taking young students over there will get them out of their little cocoon of fancy design to ask, “How do you get back to the basics of design, and then re-complicate it later?”
Robert L. Wesley, a pioneering architect and beloved mentor, has died at age 88. A graduate of the University of Oklahoma, Wesley joined Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) in 1964 and became the firm's first Black partner in 1984. Throughout his career, he contributed to significant architectural projects while maintaining a strong commitment to civic engagement and professional mentorship.
The Christopher C. Gibbs College of Architecture is proud to celebrate a series of recent accomplishments by Dr. Jim Collard, Professor of Practice in the Division of Planning, Landscape Architecture, and Design, whose work continues to shape conversations around Indigenous economic development nationally and internationally.
University of Oklahoma Gibbs College of Architecture Dean Hans E. [PA1.1]Butzer returned to one of his most significant works on December 15, joining survivors and past and present board members for the groundbreaking of a $15.8 million expansion of the Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum.
