Expert William T. Harris

President & CEO, Space Center Houston
Manned Space Flight Education Foundation

William T. Harris oversees the strategic direction of the space exploration learning destination, Space Center Houston. With approximately 470 employees and contractors, Space Center Houston is the No. 1 international attraction in the greater Houston area, generating a $240 million annual economic impact. The center is a nonprofit, the Official Visitor Center of NASA Johnson Space Center, Smithsonian Affiliate, a Certified Autism Service Center and named “Best Museum in Texas” by USA Today. AECOM has recognized Space Center Houston as one of the top 20 museums in North America.

Joining the foundation and center in April 2016, Harris has more than 41 years in nonprofit leadership including senior positions at museums and universities, where he led numerous multimillion-dollar fundraising campaigns, principal and major gifts, marketing, communications, government relations and strategy development.

Before Space Center Houston, Harris was senior vice president of development and marketing at the California Science Center Foundation, overseeing all external affairs including board relations, campaigns, annual and membership programs, public funding, marketing and communications. Harris was a leader on the team to bring the space shuttle Endeavour to the California Science Center, including its funding, promotion, transport, communications, marketing, and exhibit opening.

Previous leadership roles include the RAND/UCLA Center for Soviet Studies; multiple positions at the University of California, Los Angeles; the AIDS Action Committee of Massachusetts; and the Boston University School of Medicine. He served in the Peace Corps in Paraguay and is fluent in Spanish.

With an extensive history of public service and charitable activities, he serves as board president of the Association of Science Museum Directors (ASMD); Grants Committee chair and board member of the QueensCare Charitable Foundation; board member and co-chair of the Inclusive Leadership and Opportunity Committee for the Greater Houston Partnership; past chair of the board of directors for the Association of Science and Technology Centers (ASTC); and founding board member, Ancestral Bridges Foundation.

Harris received the 2025 Chair’s Award for Outstanding Achievement from the Association of Science and Technology Centers, 2024 Quasar Award for Economic Development Excellence from the Bay Area Houston Economic Partnership, was recognized by United Kingdom’s Blooloop magazine as a Top 50 Influencer in 2023 and was named CEO of the Year by the Houston Business Journal in 2019.

Harris earned a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts. He holds certifications in Community Health and the Delivery of Health Services at Tufts and in Development from The Fundraising Institute at Boston University School of Communications.