Ruth Hortense Coles Harris (born September 26, 1928) is an American educator, professor, and accountant. In 1962, she became the first African American woman in Virginia history to become a Certified Public Account (CPA), and served as the founding Dean of the Virginia Union University Sydney Lewis School of Business. The American Accounting Association has described Harris as a "trailblazer of the accounting profession."
Early life and education
Harris was born on September 26, 1928, in Charlottesville, Virginia. Her father was a dentist and her mother was a public school teacher.[1]
Harris began her career in academia in 1949, as an accounting professor at Virginia Union University.[1] She became the dean of the business school at the university when it was established.[3] In 1962, Harris became the first African American woman CPA in the Commonwealth of Virginia.[4][5] She was among the first 100 African Americans in the United States to become CPAs. When Harris sat for the Exam, the testing location, Virginia Beach, did not have any hotels that allowed African Americans.[2]
After retirement, Harris has served on a variety of boards and committees, including as the appointed chairperson of the State Interdepartmental Committee on Rate-Setting for Children's Facilities,[7] board member of the Richmond Urban League, and as a member of the agency evaluation committee for the United Way of Greater Richmond.[8]
Harris was recognized jointly by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the Virginia Society of Certified Public Accountants (VSCPA) as Virginia's Outstanding Accounting Educator. She also received the Distinguished Career in Accounting Award from VSCPA. In 2021, the organization also established the Curtis C. Duke and Dr. Ruth Coles Harris Scholarship Fund to provide support for underrepresented students pursuing the CPA field.[9] In 2022, she was the inaugural recipient of the Ruth Coles Harris Advancing Diversity and Inclusion Award, which is awarded annually by the VSCPA.[4][2]
The Virginia General Assembly unanimously passed a resolution honoring Harris as a "visionary educator and trailblazing leader."[10][11] The Ruth Coles Harris Leadership Institute was established in 2020 in the Sydney Lewis School of Business at Virginia Union University.[12]
