According to Ruth Coles
Harris, "If life gives you a lemon, use it to make lemonade." She should know.
Despite severe racial barriers, the retired Virginia Union University (VUU)
professor became, in 1962, the first black woman in Virginia to earn a state
license as a certified public accountant. At the time, there were fewer than
100 black CPAs in the country.
Until her retirement in May
1997, Dr. Harris had worked at the university for 48 years, more than half of
her life. Under her leadership, VUU's business program grew from a small department
with two majors and enrollment of 114 students to a school with four majors,
an associate major, and enrollment of more than 400 students.
"I believe that most
obstacles can be turned into opportunities."
Dr. Harris was born on
September 26, 1928 in Charlottesville, Virginia, to the late Bernard Albert
Coles, a dentist, and the late Ruth Wyatt Coles, a public school teacher. She
graduated first in her class both at Jefferson High School in Charlottesville
and in 1948 at Virginia State University, where she earned a bachelor's degree
in business education. Because African-Americans could not attend graduate school
in Virginia during this time, Harris had to leave the state to further her education.
And she did in 1949, when she earned a master's in business administration from
New York University. She went on to receive a doctorate in education from the
College of William and Mary in 1977.
"I believe that most obstacles
can be turned into opportunities," Dr. Harris states. "I was told by a representative
of the Virginia State Board for Accountancy that there were no accommodations
available for me at Virginia Beach where the CPA Exam was being given, because
it never occurred to them that a black person would want to go there to sit
for the exam. Instead of being discouraged, I became more determined than ever
that I would not only go there and take the exam, but I would pass it as well."
Dr. Harris has passed on
a legacy of character; scholarship; and competent, aggressive, business leadership
to her students.
