The industry loses a valuable champion.
October 23, 2007
Remembering Marcia S. Harris (1940-2007)
Marcia S. Harris, President and CEO of the Restaurant
Association of Maryland, passed away after a short illness on the morning of September 28, 2007
after celebrating her 67th birthday on Monday, September 24th. She proudly headed the largest
membership based trade association in the Baltimore region. Harris had been the leader of the
organization since 1986.
Career milestones at the Association included the establishment of the first self-insured
Workers’ Compensation Insurance Company in Maryland and the creation of the Maryland Hospitality
Education Foundation. She was a past president of the International Society of Restaurant
Association Executives and a founding member of the Women’s Foodservice Forum. She was also a past
winner of the Industry Leader of the Year award from the Academy of Travel, Tourism &
Hospitality. In 2005, she was given an award for being a Baltimore “Urban Legend” from AIRS (AIDS
Interfaith Residential Services, Inc).
When Marcia began working for the association, the association had 198 members, a budget of
$25,000 and she was the only staff member. Today, the staff totals over 25, membership tops 3,000
and the budget is over $3,000,000 annually. She was named one of “Maryland’s Top 100 Women” by The
Daily Record and in 2007 was honored with the first Foodservice Monthly “Foodservice Leader of the
Year” award.
Marcia Harris diligently served on the boards of the National Restaurant Association, the
Baltimore Area Convention and Visitors Association, The Executive Director’s Council of the
Maryland Office of Tourism Development, The Governor’s Workforce Development Board-Hospitality
Committee, The National Academies of Travel, Tourism, Finance and IT board, and The Chesapeake
Center for Youth Development (CCYD), among others.
Marcia Harris was most importantly the mother of four grown children, grandmother of seven and
the wife of Ed Harris. Marcia was a woman of strong conviction, exuberance and had recently
embraced a phrase that described her passion for life, “Life may not be the party we hoped for ...
but while we are here, we might as well dance!
The Restaurant Association of Maryland and the Maryland Hospitality Education
Foundation created the
Marcia S. Harris Legacy Fund to ensure that her name and passion for the
foodservice industry will live on. The Marcia S. Harris Legacy Fund will be used for
scholarships and to help MHEF recruit young people into hospitality careers through the ProStart
® program. Contributions should be sent to:
Maryland Hospitality Education Foundation
6301 Hillside Court
Columbia, MD 21046
1-800-874-1313
www.mhef.org