Professor Harran was raised in the Adirondacks region of Upstate New York and trained in chemistry at Skidmore College. He spent three years working with Raymond Giguere on the use of sequenced bimolecular ene / intramolecular Diels-Alder reactions. He carried out doctoral studies with Frederick Ziegler at Yale University. There they explored behavior of photochemically-generated radical intermediates in the synthesis of optically active pyrroloindoles related to mitomycins. He then moved to Stanford University as an NIH sponsored postdoctoral fellow, working with Paul Wender to create simplified, functional analogs of bryostatin. In late 1997 Professor Harran accepted his first independent appointment in the Biochemistry Department at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. He was promoted to Associate Professor with tenure in 2002 and Full Professor in 2005. During his time at Southwestern, the institution built a nationally recognized program in organic chemistry. The chemistry faculty at UTSW continues to grow and train students in a uniquely interdisciplinary environment. In the summer of 2008 Professor Harran accepted the inaugural D.J. & J.M. Cram Chair in Organic Chemistry at UCLA. The group relocated to Los Angeles with a strong sense of possibilities and excitement for the years ahead.