Morris was born in Dallas on October 6, 1918,[REF] grew up in Texas in the 1920s and 1930s, and graduated from Rice University with a bachelor's degree in civil engineering in 1939 [REF].
While Morris was religiously indifferent during his youth, shortly after his graduation from Rice in 1939, Morris became a Christian and accepted the Bible, from Genesis through Revelation, as the infallible and literal word of God [REF].