Harris also traveled to Russia and to Iran and other parts of the Middle East in order to provide expert advice on agriculture issues.
Harris did his early studies at BYU, taking a year to teach at Utah State Agricultural College, before going on to receive his doctorate from Cornell.
[4] After Cornell, Harris traveled back to Logan to become a professor of agronomy and an agronomist at Utah State Agricultural College (USAC).
[5] In 1920, Harris was working as director of the Utah State Agricultural Experiment Station and was also head of the department of zoology and Entomology at USAC.
[6]: 31 He also began to recruit professors who had completed their doctorate degrees as well as well-known Latter-day Saint scholars to join the faculty at BYU.
Harris then requested accreditation with the Association of American Universities, "but BYU failed to meet the criteria in student entrance requirements, coursework, faculty credentials, or research funds".
[1] Harris instituted special lectures on campus from LDS General Authorities relating to a variety of different topics such as religion, science, and industry.
President Harris contributed to the Improvement Era, the LDS Church magazine, along with other important members of the BYU administration.
[6]: 58, 59 He also took the initiative to visit different parts of the continental United States such as Hawaii and other countries like Japan in order to share information about his studies of soil alkali.
Prompted by these trips, Harris extended his international experience in order to travel around the world for his expertise in agronomy.
Instead of waiting, Harris would pay for campus expansions with the profits from the student bookstore without telling the board of trustees.
"[citation needed] Harris gave his resignation to the board in 1944 in order to become the president of Utah State Agricultural College.
With World War II ending, Harris was able to acquire temporary buildings from military bases that were being dismantled.
He started campaigning when J. Reuben Clark Jr. told him the First Presidency wanted Harris to run for United States Senate.
By August he decided to give his support to Charles Rendell Mabey, another candidate running for governor at the time.
[7]: 265 The Organization for Jewish Colonization in Russia (Yidishe Kolonizatsye Organizatsye in Rusland = ICOR) was established by pro-Soviet Americans in order to develop agricultural settlements in Soviet territory specifically for Jews.
In 1928 one of the journalists involved with the ICOR, Leon Talmy, invited Franklin Harris to Russia in order to evaluate the area of Birobidzhan where the creation of a Jewish autonomous district had just been approved.
Upon Harris' return to the United States, he traveled back to Utah by train in order to stop and speak in many cities about Birobidzhan and rally support for its progress.
That July Harris and his wife returned to Iran where he worked in the United States embassy and at the Iranian Ministry of Agriculture.
In 1951 Harris helped relocate funds from the Point Four program for emergency aid as a large plague of locusts couldn't be controlled through local methods.
[7]: 185–196 Harris also served as the president of the LDS Church branch headquartered in Tehran, as reported in the October 1951 general conference.
The mission traveled through Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and Greece surveying agricultural conditions.
Back in the United States Harris gave a speech to the Institute of World Affairs in December 1948 where he addressed his recommendations for Middle Eastern advancement.
[7]: 201–211 At age 65, in 1949, Harris attempted to retire as president of USAC, however, the board asked him to stay one more year.