Dr. Cynthia M. Harris is the Director of the Institute of Public Health at Florida A&M University in Tallahassee, Florida.

In January of 1996, Dr. Harris accepted the position of Director of the Institute of Public Health at Florida A&M University. Dr. Harris is a native of Kansas City, Kansas and attended the University of Kansas, where she received a B.A. (Honors' degree) in biology (1978) and a M.A. in genetics (1981). She received her Ph.D. in the biomedical sciences from Meharry Medical College in 1985, with concentrations in the areas of nutritional biochemistry and toxicology. Dr. Harris was awarded a postdoctoral fellowship in the Interdisciplinary Programs in Health at the Harvard School of Public Health. She is a Diplomate of the American Board of Toxicology (DABT).

In 1995, Dr. Harris was the Program Director for the first National Minority Health Conference with a focus on environmental contamination. While at the ATSDR, she was the recipient of the CDC/ATSDR Award for Contributions to the Advancement of Women and the ATSDR Employee of the Year Award (for contributions to the development of the Agency Minority Health Initiative). Dr. Harris also served as the Principal Investigator for a training component of the Florida Disaster Preparedness Program.

Dr. Harris has served on numerous committees and panels, which includes membership on the Board of Directors for the Florida Public Health Association, Chair of the Florida Public Health Partnership Council on Stroke, member of the Pregnancy Mortality Review Board, member of the Florida Sickle Cell Task Force, member of the American Public Health Association, member of the editorial board of the Harvard Journal of Public Health, reviewer for the Journal of Environmental Health, and board member for the Panhandle Chapter of the Florida March of Dimes. She is a Full Member of the Society of Toxicology and was appointed by the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry Board of Scientific Counselors. In addition, she has served on numerous grant reviews for several federal agencies such as CDC, NIOSH, NIEHS and HRSA. She was also a panel member for the IOM Committee on the Gulf War and Health and was appointed by Congresswoman Donna Christensen to the Congressional Black Caucus Homeland Security Advisory Board. She is also currently a member of the Association of Schools of Public Health Kellogg Racial and Ethic Disparities Work Group. In December of 2004, Dr. Harris was appointed to the Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH) Board of Councilors for a three year term. CEPH is the national accrediting agency for all public health programs and schools of public health.