University Organizational Chart
Beth A. Harris
Vice President and General Counsel
Beth A. Harris
5801 S. Ellis Ave., 619
Chicago, IL 60637
Ph: 773.702.7243
Fax: 773.702.0934
As Vice President and General Counsel, Beth A. Harris is chief legal counsel at the University of Chicago, responsible for providing legal representation and counsel to all units of the University. In addition to advising the President and the Board of Trustees, she works closely with deans and senior administrators and participates in the President’s senior leadership group.
She is also General Counsel and Secretary of UChicago Argonne, LLC, the entity created by the University to manage the Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory.
In addition to her legal responsibilities, she is an ex officio member of the Governing Board of the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools, an independent school for students in grades N-12, and the University’s liaison for matters involving the Schools, the Director, and the Board.
She oversees an office of six attorneys with expertise in such areas as litigation, employment, intellectual property, the law of higher education, taxation of exempt organizations, tax exempt financing, student affairs, and real estate. She has practiced in the areas of higher education and health care for over 20 years, and in the Office of Legal Counsel at the University of Chicago for the past 13 years. Prior to her role at the University, she was Associate General Counsel at the University of Chicago Medical Center. Before joining the Medical Center, she had a corporate and securities practice at a law firm in Chicago.
She has a B.A. in Human Development from the University of Chicago, an M.A. in Psychology from the University of Houston, and a J.D. from Northwestern University.
She is a member of The Economic Club of Chicago and The Chicago Network, an organization of metropolitan Chicago’s most distinguished professional women.
Active in the Hyde Park community, Harris is past president and a director of the Hyde Park School of Dance. She is married and has three children.