Prior to his work at Yale, Maurice served as diocesan communications minister for the Episcopal Church in Vermont (the Episcopal Diocese of Vermont), where he was responsible for marketing, communications, and media relations, and co-facilitated the diocese’s Racial Reconciliation & Racial Healing Network. He also provided consulting services for small businesses and nonprofits. From 2002 to 2014, Maurice served in leadership roles including assistant vice president of marketing and communications for Fifth Third Bank and head of corporate communications for FirstGroup America, the parent company of Greyhound, First Student, and First Transit. His career began in the music industry, specifically in artist management, music production, and music licensing.
Maurice’s discography includes original compositions for Guiding Light, Another World, As the World Turns, and MTV’s Making the Video television series, as well as gold and multi-platinum records, remixes, and collaborations over the years with major and independent recording artists including Grace Jones, Pocket Size, Blessid Union of Souls, LaKiesha Berri, Jennifer Fouché, Grammy-nominated guitarist Rod Harris, Jr., and two-time Grammy Award winner Saunders Sermons. Maurice’s current works, under the stage name Ionne, often leverage his academic interest in popular music as a tool for leading positive social change, particularly in the areas of racial healing and LGBTQI+ equality.
Maurice holds a BBA summa cum laude in Management from Northwood University, an MS in Organizational Leadership from Mount St. Joseph University, and a PhD in Ethical and Creative Leadership with a specialization in Martin Luther King, Jr. Studies from Union Institute and University. He is an artist at Midnight Oil Collective, co-president at 5015 Records and is the creator and instructor of the Yale College Seminar CSTD 210 Artmaking & Leadership: An Integrative Approach.
Maurice L. Harris, PhD
he, him
Director of Marketing & Communications
Yale Schwarzman Center
PO Box 208299
New Haven, CT 06520
T 203 432 5557
maurice.harris@yale.edu