View source for David Harrison (chemical engineer)

{{Short description|British Chemical Engineer, academic and University administrator (1930–2023)}}
{{Other people||David Harrison (disambiguation){{!}}David Harrison}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2018}}
{{Use British English|date=March 2018}}

'''Sir David Harrison''' {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|CBE|FREng}}<ref>{{cite web|title=List of Fellows|url=http://www.raeng.org.uk/about-us/people-council-committees/the-fellowship/list-of-fellows|access-date=17 October 2014|archive-date=8 June 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160608094405/http://www.raeng.org.uk/about-us/people-council-committees/the-fellowship/list-of-fellows|url-status=dead}}</ref> [[FRSCM]]<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-04-03 |title=The late Sir David Harrison |url=https://www.rscm.org.uk/the-late-sir-david-harrison/?highlight=chairman |access-date=2024-10-05 |website=RSCM |language=en-US}}</ref> (3 May 1930 – 27 March 2023) was a British chemical engineer and academic. He was [[vice chancellor|vice-chancellor]] of the [[Keele University|University of Keele]] from 1979 to 1984, [[Vice-Chancellors of the University of Exeter|vice-chancellor]] of the [[University of Exeter]] from 1984 to 1994, [[Master (college)|master]] of [[Selwyn College, Cambridge]], from 1994 to 2000, and [[pro-vice chancellor]] of the [[University of Cambridge]] in 1997.<ref>[http://www.debretts.com/people/biographies/browse/h/5171/David+HARRISON.aspx Debretts biography, accessed 26 October 2012]</ref>

[[File:Knights Bachelor Insignia.png|thumb|right|50px| Insignia of '''Knight Bachelor''']]
Harrison was educated at [[City of Sunderland College|Bede School]], [[Sunderland, Tyne and Wear|Sunderland]], [[Clacton County High School]] and Selwyn College, Cambridge, reading natural sciences (chemistry),<ref>[http://www.admin.cam.ac.uk/univ/newsletter/2000/oct-nov/5.html Cambridge University Newsletter, accessed 26 October 2012]</ref> before receiving a [[PhD]] in physical chemistry. He joined the newly formed Chemical Engineering Department doing extensive research into Fluidisation which resulted in three books, all written with his close friend Prof John Davidson. He taught at [[Cambridge University]] until 1979, becoming a [[fellow]] of Selwyn in 1957 and its Senior Tutor.

Harrison was elected a Fellow<ref>{{cite web|title=List of Fellows|url=http://www.raeng.org.uk/about-us/people-council-committees/the-fellowship/list-of-fellows|access-date=17 October 2014|archive-date=8 June 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160608094405/http://www.raeng.org.uk/about-us/people-council-committees/the-fellowship/list-of-fellows|url-status=dead}}</ref> of the [[Royal Academy of Engineering]]<ref>{{cite web|title=List of Fellows|url=http://www.raeng.org.uk/about-us/people-council-committees/the-fellowship/list-of-fellows|access-date=17 October 2014|archive-date=8 June 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160608094405/http://www.raeng.org.uk/about-us/people-council-committees/the-fellowship/list-of-fellows|url-status=dead}}</ref> in 1987.

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, he was a governor of numerous schools and Director of the Salters Livery Company. Between 1996 and 2005 he was Chairman of the Council of the [[Royal School of Church Music]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-04-03 |title=The late Sir David Harrison |url=https://www.rscm.org.uk/the-late-sir-david-harrison/?highlight=chairman |access-date=2024-10-05 |website=RSCM |language=en-US}}</ref>

Harrison was received a CBE in 1990 and was knighted in 1997. In 1962 he married Sheila Rachel Debes and they had a son and daughter and one son deceased.<ref name ="WWW">[http://www.ukwhoswho.com/view/article/oupww/whoswho/U19242 ''HARRISON, Sir David'', Who's Who 2012, A & C Black, 2012; online edn, Oxford University Press, Dec 2011; online edn, Nov 2011, accessed 26 Oct 2012]</ref>

Harrison died on 27 March 2023, at the age of 92.<ref>{{cite web |title=Sir David Harrison RIP |url=https://www.sel.cam.ac.uk/news/sir-david-harrison-rip |website=Selwyn College |access-date=29 March 2023}}</ref>

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. The Harrison Building is named after him at Exeter University. The SCR at Selwyn College is named the Harrison Room after him.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-aca}}
{{succession box |
  before= [[W. A. Campbell Stewart|Professor W. A. Campbell Stewart]] |
  title=[[Vice-Chancellor]] of <br>[[Keele University]] |
  years=1979–1984 |
  after= [[Brian Fender|Professor Sir Brian Fender]]
}}
{{succession box |
  before=[[Harry Kay (psychologist)|Professor Harry Kay]] |
  title=[[Vice-Chancellor]] of the<br> [[University of Exeter]] |
  years=1984–1994 |
  after=[[Geoffrey Holland|Sir Geoffrey Holland]]
}}
{{succession box |
  before= [[Alan Cook (physicist)|Sir Alan Cook]] |
  title=Master of<br>[[Selwyn College, Cambridge]] |
  years=1994–2000 |
  after= [[Richard Bowring|Professor Richard Bowring]]
}}
{{s-end}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harrison, David}}
[[Category:1930 births]]
[[Category:2023 deaths]]
[[Category:People educated at Bede Grammar School for Boys]]
[[Category:Vice-chancellors of Keele University]]
[[Category:Vice-chancellors of the University of Exeter]]
[[Category:Masters of Selwyn College, Cambridge]]
[[Category:Fellows of Selwyn College, Cambridge]]
[[Category:Alumni of Selwyn College, Cambridge]]
[[Category:Fellows of the Royal Academy of Engineering]]
[[Category:Commanders of the Order of the British Empire]]
[[Category:Knights Bachelor]]