John F. Harris, Jr., a collections volunteer at the Penn Museum, died on June 22 after a long illness. He was 91 years old.

Dr. Harris was born in Stroudsburg, PA. In 1943, the US Navy sent him to the University of Pennsylvania to study engineering. After the war, he returned to Penn to earn three degrees— his BA, MS and PhD in chemistry—and then went to work for over 30 years in the central research department at DuPont in Delaware. While at DuPont, he received a Guggenheim Fellowship to do post-doctorate work at the University of Cologne, Germany.

After retiring from DuPont in 1985, he went regularly to the Penn Museum, where he became a collections volunteer, an expert at deciphering Maya hieroglyphs and a consulting scholar. He was fascinated with the Pre-Columbian cultures of Mesoamerica and with the ancient Maya in particular. He was president and an active member of the Pre-Columbian Society, which continues to meet monthly at the Museum. In 1992, working with Steve Stearns, Dr. Harris wrote Understanding Maya Inscriptions, a hieroglyph handbook published by the Museum that is used at major universities around the world. In 1995, Jeremy Sabloff, then director of the Museum, presented Dr. Harris with the Director’s Award “for his contributions in spreading understanding of Maya hieroglyphs to the general public.”

Dr. Harris is survived by his wife, Jackie; his children, Mark (Karen), John (Jane) and Katherine; four grandchildren; and two great grandchildren.

Memorial contributions may be sent to the Helen Graham Cancer Center, 4701 Ogletown-Stanton Road, Newark, DE 19713, or to the Bread Upon the Waters Scholarship Fund at the University of Pennsylvania, 16 College Hall, Philadelphia, PA 19104.