During the 1980s, he was on the faculty of
Brown University, moving to Harvard around 1988.[citation needed] He served as chair of the department at Harvard from 2002 to 2005. His work is characterized by its classical geometric flavor: he has claimed that nothing he thinks about could not have been imagined by the
Italian geometers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and that if he has had greater success than them, it is because he has access to better tools.[citation needed]
Harris is well known for several of his books on algebraic geometry, notable for their informal presentations:
^Yefremova, Anastasia (May 5, 2022).
"Demystifying Math 55". Department of Mathematics, Harvard University. Archived from
the original on August 8, 2022. Retrieved August 25, 2022.