Paul Percy Harris (April 19, 1868–January 27, 1947) was a Chicago, Illinois, attorney best known for founding Rotary International in 1905, a service organization with more than one million members worldwide.

 

Harris was born in Racine, Wisconsin, but grew up in Vermont. He attended Princeton University, the University of Vermont, and the University of Iowa. For the next five years, he worked odd jobs for the newspaper, as a salesman, on fruit farms, as an actor, and on cattle ships that traveled to Europe.

 

He began his law practice in 1896. Harris organized Rotary "in fellowship and friendship" with three clients, Silvester Schele, Gustavus Loehr, and Henry Ruggles. By the time of his death at the age of seventy-nine, the club had grown to more than 200,000 members in 75 countries. The club is dedicated to "service above self".

 

In his honor, individual Rotary clubs choose a who meets high professional and personal standards set by the founder. The fellow is honored at a fundraising dinner and receives a special certificate, a gold pin, and a gold medallion on a blue-and-gold ribbon.

 

The Rotary Club of Dartmouth has bestowed numerous club member and other deserving members of the community with Paul Harris Fellow Awards.

 

To download a list of recipients of  this award...