Robert S. Harris '28 was a professor of nutritional biochemistry at MIT, where he served as faculty for 41 years until his retirement in 1969. Dr. Harris was known for his research on the roles of vitamins, minerals, fats and proteins in the metabolic process. He was a member of the Expert Committee on Nutrition of the World Health Organization, a specialized agency of the United Nations. He helped modernize nutrition or food-science departments of several universities overseas. In 1949, he established the Institute of Nutrition for Central America and Panama, which developed a nutritious substance for children of the undeveloped countries of that region.

--Adapted from obituary by Thomas W. Ennis in the New York Times, 27 December 1983