As a result of her success leading HUD, Carter appointed Harris as the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare, the largest Cabinet agency, in 1979. Once again, the confirmation process was easy. After the Department of Education Organization Act came into force on May 4, 1980, the department's education functions were transferred to the Department of Education. Harris remained as Secretary of the renamed Department of Health and Human Services until Carter left office in 1981. Because the department had merely changed names, as opposed to disbanding with a new department being created, she did not face Senate confirmation again after the change. During her tenure with the Department, Harris faced several budget crises and refreshed the management team. Harris offered a number of critiques of her own work in these cabinet positions, including that enforcement of civil rights fell off while she was head of HHS, that Congress called her responses to requests for policy changes that would lower health care costs sluggish, and that many of her programs ended up doing little for her hometown of Washington, D.C. On the other hand, Office of Management and Budget Associate Director Dennis Green described her approach as "tough minded, intelligent, quick to grasp the intricacies of her agency, and she went after what she wanted." Post-government In 1981, Harris was appointed a full-time professor at the George Washington University Law School; She remained on the faculty until her death in 1985. Harris ran unsuccessfully for Mayor of Washington, D.C., in 1982, losing the September 14 primary election to incumbent mayor Marion Barry. Among several factors leading to the loss, including her brusque, no-nonsense means of communication, some scholars have listed that Washington, D.C., had never elected a female mayor. However, the city's first female mayor, Sharon Pratt (1991–1995), cut her teeth as Harris's campaign manager for her mayoral race. Personal life and death During her tenure at the American Council on Human Rights, Harris first met William Beasley Harris, then a member of the Howard law faculty and later a federal Maritime Commission administrative judge. They began dating in 1955, and were married on September 1, 1955. Harris was a member of Delta Sigma Theta sorority and served for six years as its first national executive director. In 1967, Lord Snowdon photographed Harris at the United Nations for Vogue. In her spare time, Harris enjoyed cooking and baking. Harris's husband