Gilbert Dennison Harris

[2] Over nearly forty years at the university, he established himself as a premier invertebrate paleontologist, specializing in Cenozoic mollusks of the U.S. Gulf and Atlantic coastal plains.

Through his research along the coastal plains, Caribbean, and Latin America, Harris made extensive contributions to Cornell's fossil collections.

He also studied the K-T Boundary extensively, and, as State Geologist of Louisiana between 1899 and 1909,[2] Harris's contributions to petroleum geology in the Gulf coast, especially his work on salt domes and their relation to petroleum reservoirs, helped the area become a target for oil exploration and drilling.

[3]: 18 In 1932, frustrated by the university administration's lack of respect for his accomplishments and rejection of his demand for a fire-proof building to house his collections, library, and printing enterprise, Gilbert Harris looked to creating an independent institution, separate from Cornell, that would serve as a haven for himself and others who shared his interest in paleontology.

Harris constructed a simple two-story building on a plot of land adjacent to his home near Cornell's North Campus that served as headquarters for the institution.