Louis Harris

Louis Harris (January 6, 1921 – December 17, 2016) was an American opinion polling entrepreneur, journalist, and author. He ran one of the best-known polling organizations of his time, Louis Harris and Associates, which conducted The Harris Poll. He followed Elmo Roper and George Gallup in using and improving the art and the techniques of opinion polling.

Early life Harris was born on January 6, 1921, in New Haven, one of three children of Harry Harris, a real estate developer, and the former Frances Smith. He then joined the Navy, as World War II was underway.

Career Harris began working in the field of public opinion and marketing research in 1947, when he joined the Elmo Roper firm as Roper's assistant. In 1956 Harris left Roper's business and started his own firm, Louis Harris and Associates, Inc. It was felt that predicting the election on television before polling was ended across the US was a negative action, as West Coast voters felt this lessened the importance of their votes. The practice was then discontinued.

Harris's firm was bought by Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette in 1969, and then by Gannett in 1975, with Louis Harris continuing as chief executive until he retired in 1992. In 1996, the Gannett Corporation sold Louis Harris & Associates to the Gordon S. Black Corporation, which operated under the name Harris Black International before becoming a publicly traded company, Harris Interactive, in December 1999.

Legacy In 2017, The Harris Poll was acquired by the Stagwell Group, which took the company private and renamed the polling firm as Harris Insights & Analytics. The continuous polling of American opinion is now found at this online site.

His papers, Louis Harris papers, 1940-1990s, are held in the Southern Historical Collection, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (#4662).