Alfred S. Harris

Alfred Stull Harris (1891–1947) was an American businessman from Ohio. Harris led innovations in the development and use of the automatic printing press at Harris-Seybold, which later became Harris Corporation. During a 35-year career at the company founded by his father, he held leadership positions that included vice president of engineering, president, and director.

Early life and education

Harris was born to Alfred F. Harris and Minnie Stull Harris, a granddaughter of Scottish Western Reserve settlers, in Warren, Ohio, on June 10, 1891. After graduating from the Morristown School (now Morristown-Beard School) in Morristown, New Jersey, Harris attended Princeton University in Princeton, New Jersey. He then attended the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia, until 1912. Later that year, Harris left school to begin his career at Harris Automatic Press Company, the family business. Harris worked as a draftsman in the engineering department until taking on the position of road technician in 1922. Harris succeeded Ray V. Mitchell.

While heading engineering initiatives, Harris led the company's development and advancement of offset printing using the lithography. His innovations in this area included the first modern two-color offset and the first process for four-color offsets. As of 2014, 15 patents about printing machines (filed between 1945 and 1990) reference his invention. In 1937, Harris and Charles W. Harrold jointly filed a patent for "Inker throw-off". Sixteen patents about ink use in printing (filed between 1945 and 1984) reference this invention as of 2014. Harris also filed a patent in 1945 for "Sheet-fed offset perfecting press".

Family

Harris married Marie Goering Harris in Warren, Ohio, on June 17, 1916. They had three children together: Alfred Stull Jr., Josephine, and Charles Conrad.