Harris J. Pappas

President, Pappas Restaurants, Inc.
Chief Operating Officer, Luby's, Inc.

Harris Pappas

Harris J. Pappas is president of Pappas Restaurants, Inc., a privately owned company that operates nearly 100 restaurants in seven states. Today, the family business has expanded to include nine brands — the Pappas Seafood Houses, Pappasito's Cantinas, Pappadeaux Seafood Kitchens, Pappas Bar-B-Q's, Pappas Bros. Steakhouses, Pappas Grill Steakhouse, Pappas Burger, Pappas Pizza, Yia Yia Mary's Pappas Greek Kitchen, plus the original Dot Coffee Shop. The Pappas family also operates a very successful catering business in the Houston, Dallas, Austin and San Antonio markets.

Harris also serves as chief operating officer of Luby's, Inc. Luby's, founded over 50 years ago, is a publicly traded cafeteria chain with over 120 locations in five states.

Harris credits his success to his father, Jim, and his grandfather, H.D., who came to America from Greece in 1897, eventually opening his own restaurants. Jim and his brothers started Pappas Refrigeration, 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 family-owned-and-operated restaurants in existence at that time. He now has over 30 years of operational management experience in the restaurant industry and is actively involved in both the general operations of all of the Pappas restaurants and in the development of new concepts.

Harris Pappas attended Schreiner Institute for two years in high school. He continued his education at Texas A&M University where he earned two Bachelor's degrees — one in Finance, the other in Accounting. Upon graduation from Texas A&M, he 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.

Harris gives generously of his time to civic and community affairs. He is a member of the Board of Directors of Oceaneering International, Inc., a publicly held firm, and also served a 10-year term on the Board of Trustees of Memorial Hermann Healthcare System in Houston. He is an advisory director of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Houston and of Frost National Bank-Houston. He served a three-year term on the Board of Directors of Schreiner University and now serves on Schreiner's Advisory Board. He is also a member of the Texas A&M Foundation Development Advisory Committee and serves on the Education Development Council Advisory Committee. 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.

A boating and fishing enthusiast, Harris also enjoys spending time with his wife, Vicky Marinos Pappas, and their six children.

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