Harris Corporation Celebrates 120-Year Anniversary, Founded In 1895

By  //  December 24, 2015

Harris Corporation celebrated its 120-year anniversary by recognizing its heritage of transformation and innovation. (Harris image)
Harris Corporation celebrated its 120-year anniversary by recognizing its heritage of transformation and innovation. (Harris image)

MELBOURNE, FLORIDA – Harris Corporation celebrated its 120-year anniversary by recognizing its heritage of transformation and innovation.

Founded in the back room of an Ohio jewelry store in December 1895, Harris grew from a tiny printing press company into a top 10 defense contractor with $8 billion in annualized sales, 22,000 employees, customers in 125 countries, and a diverse portfolio of technologies that connect, inform and protect the world.

Harris is the longest-thriving major defense contractor and one of 398 publicly held companies still in existence for 120 years or longer – including GE, CVS, Coca-Cola, Pfizer, P&G and J.P. Morgan. (120+ Companies)

Harris-580-2Harris has transformed itself numerous times through strategic mergers and acquisitions, including expanding its printing presence in 1926 by merging with the Seybold Machine and Premier-Potter companies, transitioning into electronic communications with the 1967 merger with Radiation Inc., and nearly doubling its defense industry presence through its largest-ever acquisition of Exelis in 2015. (120-microsite)

Highlights

  • One of nearly 400 public companies in existence for 120 years
  • Transformed from printing press company into top 10 defense contractor
  • Thrived for 12 decades through strategic M&A and innovation

Harris has also introduced a long list of notable technology innovations, including the world’s first automatic and four-color printing presses, the Washington-Moscow hotline, GPS navigation space antennas, multi-band military radios, and advanced air traffic management and weather forecasting solutions.

Harris today is an industry leader in technologies for defense, space, weather, air traffic management and electronic warfare. (Harris video)

William Brown
William Brown

“Embracing transformation and pushing technology boundaries are foundational to Harris’ success over the past 120 years,” said William M. Brown, chairman, president and CEO.

“We continue that heritage today with our recent defense-market expansion and our industry-leading investment in advanced research and development. We are proud of Harris’ legacy, and even more excited by the opportunities that lie ahead.”

About Harris Corporation
Harris Corporation is a leading technology innovator, solving our customers’ toughest mission-critical challenges by providing solutions that connect, inform and protect. Harris supports customers in more than 125 countries, has approximately $8 billion in annual revenue and 22,000 employees worldwide. The company is organized into four business segments: Communication Systems, Space and Intelligence Systems, Electronic Systems, and Critical Networks. Learn more at harris.com.