Wikipedia

David Harrison (chemical engineer)

Sir David Harrison CBE FREng FRSCM (3 May 1930 – 27 March 2023) was a British chemical engineer and academic. He was vice-chancellor of the University of Keele from 1979 to 1984, vice-chancellor of the University of Exeter from 1984 to 1994, master of Selwyn College, Cambridge, from 1994 to 2000, and pro-vice-chancellor of the University of Cambridge in 1997.[1]

Sir
David Harrison
CBE FREng FRSCM FIChemE
Master of Selwyn College, Cambridge
In office
1994–2000
Preceded bySir Alan Cook
Succeeded byRichard Bowring
Vice-Chancellor of University of Exeter
In office
1984–1994
Preceded byHarry Kay
Succeeded bySir Geoffrey Holland
Chair of Committee of UK Vice-Chancellors and Principals
In office
1991–1993
President of Institution of Chemical Engineers
In office
1991–1992
Vice-Chancellor of University of Keele
In office
1979–1984
Preceded byW. A. Campbell Stewart
Succeeded bySir Brian Fender
Personal details
Born(1930-05-03)3 May 1930
Clacton, Essex
Died27 March 2023(2023-03-27) (aged 92)
Cambridge
Military service
Allegiance United Kingdom
Branch/service British Army
Years of service
1949–1950
Rank2nd lieutenant
UnitRoyal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers
Scientific career
EducationClacton County High School
Alma materSelwyn College, University of Cambridge (BA, PhD)
Known for
  • Research into fluidisation
  • Chairing the UK government's nuclear safety advisory committee
SpouseSheila Rachel Debes
Children3
FieldsChemistry, Physical Chemistry, Chemical Engineering
InstitutionsSalters' Institute of Industrial Chemistry (Director, 1993-2015)
University of Cambridge
University of Exeter
Keele University
Notable students
Donald Nicklin
Man Mohan Sharma

Early life and education

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David Harrison was born in Clacton, Essex on 3 May 1930 to Lavinia (née Wilson) and Harold David Harrison. His father, originally from Exeter, was a civil engineer. During World War II, the young David Harrison was evacuated to Sunderland, attending the local Bede School.[2] He attended Clacton County High School upon his return to Essex following the war.[1]

From 1949 to 1950, Harrison completed his national service as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers.[3] He joined Selwyn College, Cambridge as an undergraduate in 1950 to read natural sciences. Graduating with a double first in 1953,[4] Harrison stayed on at Cambridge to pursue a PhD in physical chemistry.[5] His doctoral research focused on the heat capacities of liquids and was under the supervision of Professor Emyr Alun Moelwyn-Hughes.[3] He received his PhD in 1956.[4]

Career

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Fresh out of his PhD, in 1956, Harrison became an assistant lecturer at the newly formed Chemical Engineering Department at Cambridge, headed by Terence Fox.[3] He was promoted to lecturer in 1961 and from 1967 also took on the role of Selwyn College's Senior Tutor,[4] which included responsibility over the college's student admission.[6] In this role, he was remembered for his advocacy for the admission of women to Selwyn, which was a men-only college until 1976.[3] The college master at the time, Owen Chadwick, praised Harrison for handling the transition of Selwyn to a mixed college "without suffering a single resignation from anyone in the process".[7] He was also credited as an early champion of widening participation, building relationships with schools that had not traditionally sent their pupils to Oxbridge to encourage applications from these schools.[2] As admission tutor, Harrison, on occasion, would also be prepared to give contextual offers to applicants from less privileged backgrounds.[7]

During his time at Cambridge, Harrison did extensive research into fluidisation, which resulted in three books written in collaboration with Professor John Davidson.[3][6] He also had visiting appointments at the Universities of Delaware and Sydney in 1967 and 1976, respectively.[8]

Harrison left Selwyn in 1979 to take up the post of Vice-chancellor at Keele University. In 1984, he took up his second vice-chancellor post at University of Exeter, where he remained until 1994.[9] During his tenure at Exeter, he hosted Archbishop Desmond Tutu as a visiting professor to the university.[10] The South African Archbishop delivered a public lecture at the Great Hall, where he addressed an audience of 2,400 people, calling for sanctions against the Apartheid regime.[11][12]

Harrison returned to Selwyn in 1994, this time as Master of the college, a role he held until 2000. He was also Cambridge's deputy-vice-chancellor from 1995 to 2000 and served briefly as pro-vice-chancellor in 1997.[1]

Outside academia, he was chairman of the Government's Advisory Committee on the safety of nuclear installations. He chaired the Councils of both Exeter and Ely Cathedrals. Harrison was a governor of numerous schools and Director of the Salters' Institute of Industrial Chemistry from 1993 to 2015,[13] where his focus was the chemistry curriculum and school outreach activities. Between 1996 and 2005 he was Chairman of the Council of the Royal School of Church Music.[14]

Honours and recognitions

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Harrison was appointed fellow of Selwyn College in 1957 and honorary fellow of Homerton College in 2016.[15] He also received multiple honorary doctorates:

He was appointed to fellowships of many learned societies, including the Royal Institute of Chemistry (later the Royal Society of Chemistry) in 1961, the Institution of Chemical Engineers in 1968, Royal Society of Arts in 1985, and Royal Academy of Engineering in 1987.[19]

Harrison received a CBE in the 1990 New Year Honours.[20] He was knighted in the 1997 New Year Honours for services to education and nuclear safety.[21]

Personal life

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In 1962, Harrison married Sheila Rachel Debes, who was a teacher. They had a daughter and two sons (by one of whom he was predeceased).[7]

Harrison was a member of The Athenaeum and Oxford and Cambridge Club.[1] He organised a highly publicised boycott of the latter in 1995 due to its policy of excluding women from membership as well as the club's facilities. Due to the pressure from this campaign, the club started admitting women to its membership in 1996.[2][7]

Harrison died on 27 March 2023, aged 92, at his home in Cambridge.[22] His funeral took place at Selwyn College Chapel on 20 April 2023.[23] A memorial service celebrating Harrison's legacy was organised by Selwyn College on 21 October the same year.[24]

Legacy and commemoration

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Harrison House and Harrison Drive in Homerton College, University of Cambridge are named after Harrison, marking his service as chair of the Trustees of Homerton College until 2010 when it received its Royal Charter and became self-governing.[25] The Senior Common Room at Selwyn College was renamed the Harrison Room on Harrison's 90th birthday in 2020.[26] He is also the namesake of the Harrison Building at the University of Exeter.[27]

Following Harrison's death in 2023, Selwyn College created The Sir David Harrison Fund in memory of its alumnus and former master, with the aim to support the teaching and learning of science at the college.[28] The endowment funds a teaching fellowship[29] as well as a Master's scholarship.[30][31]

British Guyanese writer David Dabydeen dedicated his 2024 novel, Sweet Li Jie, to Harrison, who was Admission Tutor when Dabydeen matriculated at Selwyn College in 1974.[32][33]

References

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  1. 1 2 3 4 "Harrison, Sir David". Debrett's People of Today 2010. Debrett's. 2009. ISBN 978-1-870520-42-3 – via Internet Archive.
  2. 1 2 3 "Sir David Harrison obituary". The Times. 9 April 2023. Retrieved 29 April 2026.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Hayhurst, Allan; Dennis, John (4 April 2023). "In memory of Sir David Harrison CBE 1930-2023". University of Cambridge. Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology. Retrieved 29 April 2026.
  4. 1 2 3 "Harrison, Sir David". Who's Who (158th ed.). London: A & C Black. 2006. p. 983 – via Internet Archive.
  5. ↑ Clift, Roland; Darton, Richard (12 April 2023). "Sir David Harrison, 1930-2023". www.thechemicalengineer.com. Retrieved 29 April 2026.
  6. 1 2 Davidson, J.F. (8 June 2020). "Life and Times in Engineering and Chemical Engineering". Annual Review of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering. 11 (1): 23–34. doi:10.1146/annurev-chembioeng-011420-125935. ISSN 1947-5438.
  7. 1 2 3 4 Chothia, Jean (2023), "Sir David Harrison CBE (1950, Fellow 1957-94 and 2000-23, Master 1994–2000)" (PDF), Selwyn College Calendar 2022–2023, vol. 130, Selwyn College, Cambridge, pp. 113–117
  8. ↑ Harrison, David (2019). "Reflections on Teaching in the Past" (PDF). CEB Focus (26). Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology, University of Cambridge: 24–25. Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 April 2026.
  9. ↑ Sandes, Duncan (21 April 2023). "In Memorium - Sir David Harrison". University of Exeter News. Retrieved 30 April 2026.
  10. ↑ "Desmond Tutu and VC David Harrison at press conference during visit to University of Exeter". University of Exeter. Special Collections Archive. 2 May 1990. Retrieved 1 May 2026.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  11. ↑ "Desmond Tutu, distinguished visiting professor on delivery of lecture at Great Hall". University of Exeter Archive. Special Collections Archive. 2 May 1990. Retrieved 1 May 2026.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  12. ↑ "UK News in Brief: Tutu's sanctions call". The Guardian. 3 May 1990. p. 3 – via Gale.
  13. ↑ Roberts, Kathryn (2018), Celebrating 100 years of support for chemistry & science education (PDF), London: The Salters’ Institute
  14. ↑ "The late Sir David Harrison". RSCM. 3 April 2023. Retrieved 5 October 2024.
  15. ↑ "Fellows of the Colleges". Cambridge University Reporter Special. Vol. CXLVI, no. 2. 19 October 2016. Retrieved 30 April 2026.
  16. ↑ "Honorary degrees". Keele University. 21 January 2026. Retrieved 27 January 2026.
  17. ↑ "University of Exeter Previous honorary graduates". www.exeter.ac.uk. 2010. Retrieved 27 January 2026.
  18. ↑ "University of York honours seven". University of York. 7 July 2008. Retrieved 27 January 2026.
  19. ↑ "Harrison, Sir David". The International Who's Who 2017. Vol. 1 (A-K) (80th ed.). Abingdon, Oxfordshire: Routledge. 2016. p. 900. ISBN 978-1-85743-840-6 – via Internet Archive.
  20. ↑ "No. 51981". The London Gazette (1st supplement). 29 December 1989. p. 7.
  21. ↑ "No. 54625". The London Gazette. 31 December 1996. p. 2.
  22. ↑ "Deaths". The Times. 31 March 2023. p. 55. ISSN 0140-0460.
  23. ↑ "Sir David Harrison RIP". Selwyn College, Cambridge. Retrieved 29 April 2026.
  24. ↑ "In Memoriam: Sir David's legacy, 1930-2023" (PDF). Selwyn. No. 30. Selwyn College, Cambridge. 2023. p. 3.
  25. ↑ "Sir David Harrison CBE". Homerton College. Retrieved 30 April 2026.
  26. ↑ "Sir David at 90". Selwyn College, Cambridge. 4 May 2020. Retrieved 30 April 2026.
  27. ↑ Special Collections Archives. "University photographs: Streatham campus: academic buildings G-L". University of Exeter. Retrieved 30 April 2026.
  28. ↑ "Sir David Harrison Fund: supporting science at Selwyn". Selwyn College, Cambridge. Retrieved 30 April 2026.
  29. ↑ "Fellowships". Selwyn College, Cambridge. Retrieved 30 April 2026.
  30. ↑ "The Sir David Harrison Studentship in Sciences, Maths, or Engineering - Postgraduate Funding Search". University of Cambridge. 3 November 2025. Archived from the original on 29 April 2026. Retrieved 30 April 2026.
  31. ↑ "Funding". Selwyn College, Cambridge. Retrieved 30 April 2026.
  32. ↑ "Nobel Prize Nomination". Selwyn College, Cambridge. 9 January 2026. Retrieved 30 April 2026.
  33. ↑ Fox, Peter; Chothia, Jean; Holton, David; Matheson, James; Mosey, Roger, eds. (2025), "News of Honorary Fellows" (PDF), Selwyn College Calendar 2024–2025, vol. 132, Selwyn College, Cambridge, p. 54
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Portrait paintings of Sir David Harrison

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  • Dr David Harrison, Vice-Chancellor (Art UK) - painted by Suulvan Ionschaev in 1991
  • David Harrison, CBE, FREng, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Exeter (1984–1994) (Art UK) - painted by Trevor Stubley in 1993
  • Sir David Harrison (b.1930), Master (1994–2000) (Art UK) - painted by Annabel Cullen in 2000


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