Dr. Jean Harris shaped Eden Prairie into a more inclusive, diverse and connected community through her visionary civic leadership. As a member of the Eden Prairie City Council from 1987 to 1995 and as mayor from 1996 to 2001, she championed affordable housing, mixed-use development and youth engagement. These values enriched the city and its schools.

Dr. Harris was an active member of the United States Conference of Mayors, representing Eden Prairie on a national stage and advancing conversations around equity, urban development and public health. A passionate advocate for education and the arts, Dr. Harris partnered with Eden Prairie High School students to bring public art into civic spaces through community projects such as Art on City Walls and First Brush Strokes. Her dedication to young people lives on through a scholarship fund supporting students who demonstrate leadership in diversity and human rights.

Before her time in Eden Prairie, Dr. Harris broke barriers in medicine as the first African-American to be admitted to a medical school in Virginia and later as the first African-American cabinet member in the Commonwealth. She went on to advise five U.S. presidents on health policy and serve as a consultant to the U.S. Agency for International Development, the National Institutes of Health, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and Congress. 

The National Governors’ Association recognized Dr. Harris for work on the federal and state level with the association’s distinguished service award in 1981. And back in Eden Prairie, her service and legacy as the city’s first African-American mayor are honored through the Gathering Bridge in Purgatory Creek Park. It stands as a symbol of Dr. Harris’s commitment to connection, equity and civic pride. 

Photo Credit: City of Eden Prairie