Harris J. Pappas was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the U.S. Army. He served one year in Thailand and one year in Vietnam and was awarded two Bronze Stars and three Army Commendation medals for his service. Prior to his service, Harris attended Schreiner Institute for two years in high school and continued his education at Texas A&M University where he earned two bachelor’s degrees: one in Finance and one in Accounting.

Harris credits his success to his father, Jim, and his grandfather, H.D., who came to America from Greece in 1897, and they eventually opened a few restaurants of his own. Jim and his brothers started Pappas Refrigeration Company, a restaurant equipment and supply distributor. In 1967, the brothers opened their first restaurant, Dot Coffee Shop, in downtown Houston. After their success with the Dot, the brothers then opened the first Pappas Bar-B-Q.

Beginning in 1970, Harris served as general manager of the three restaurants that the Pappas family owned and operated at the time. Harris has over 50 years of operational management experience in the restaurant industry and is actively involved in general operations of all of the Pappas restaurants as well as the development of new concepts. He is the Co-Executive Chairman of Pappas Restaurants, Inc., and served as Chief Operating Officer of Luby’s, Inc. until 2011 and remained actively involved with the company as a board member until 2019.

Harris received the Distinguished Alumnus Award from Texas A&M University in 2001 and the Outstanding Alumnus Award from the Texas A&M Mays College of Business in 1999. In 2013 Harris was inducted into the Hall of Honor by the Texas A & M Corp of Cadets Foundation. In 2009, Harris was an inductee into the Hilton Hospitality Hall of Honor at the University of Houston’s Hilton College of Hotel and Restaurant Management. In October of 2004, Harris was honored as an Archon in the Greek Orthodox Church and was the recipient of the Ellis Island Medal of Honor in 2005.

Harris generously gives his time to civic and community affairs. He served a five-year term on the Board of Trustees at Hermann Hospital and a ten-year term on the Board of Trustees of Memorial Hermann Healthcare System in Houston. Additionally, he served a three-year term on the Board of Directors of Schreiner University and was a member of the Board of Trustees at Oceaneering International for 20 years. He currently serves as a corporate member of the Memorial Hermann Board and an advisory director for Frost National Bank-Houston.