Leland Harris, 1924-2007

Leland Harris, the Herbert E. Griffith Professor Emeritus of Chemistry at Knox College, died on June 7, 2007, at the age of 82.

Harris was born on September 9, 1924, in Warren, Ohio. He was the son of Welsh immigrants and the youngest of eight children.

After graduating from high school, Harris enlisted in the U.S. Army. He served during World War II, including combat duty in the Allied "D-Day" invasion of Normandy and at the Battle of the Bulge.

"Like many of his generation, he rarely discussed the war, but his experiences as a soldier made him a lifelong proponent of peace," said his son, Paul Harris, a 1984 Knox graduate.

Upon returning from the war, Harris completed a B.S. at the University of Michigan, M.S. at the University of Arizona, and a Ph.D. in Chemistry at the University of Iowa. He worked for two years at DuPont, then joined the Knox College faculty in 1957. Dr. Harris taught at Knox for 29 years and served as Chair of the Chemistry Department for 19 years. While at Knox, Dr. Harris was a strong advocate for undergraduate research, continually inspiring and involving students in the laboratory, and also serving for a number of years in the 1960s and 1970s as the Program Director for the National Science Foundation's Undergraduate Research Participation Programs.

Working with James Campbell, M.D., a 1939 Knox graduate who was president of Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke's Medical Center in Chicago, Dr. Harris was also instrumental in developing the Knox-Rush Medical Program, a cooperative program for physician education created by Knox and Rush Medical College. Dr. Harris was the Curriculum Coordinator for the Knox-Rush program from 1971 to 1983, Associate Director from 1979 to 1983, and a Visiting Professor of Biochemistry at Rush Medical College from 1972 to 1983.

"Knox is where dad's flame burned the brightest and where it warmed the greatest number of people," said Paul Harris, who taught psychology at Knox in 1989-90 and currently is associate professor of psychology at Rollins College.

In 1986, Dr. Harris retired from Knox to move with his wife to Arizona, where he taught at the University of Arizona at Tucson. During the next 15 years Dr. Harris would win ten teaching awards including the Award for Innovative Teaching in General Education, and the Faculty of Science Distinguished Teaching Award. At the University of Arizona, Dr. Harris was also recognized for his work with veterans, off-campus students, and minority students pursuing medical careers.

In 2001, he moved to Orlando, Florida. During fall semester of 2002, Dr. Harris taught his last course in general chemistry at a community college in Orlando. After grading the final set of exams, he suffered a stroke that prevented him from returning to the classroom. His teaching evaluations for this last class were outstanding.

With all of his academic accomplishments, Dr. Harris is probably remembered best by his students as an outstanding educator. As a professor, Harris was known for his ability to explain complex material, his warmth and concern for his students, his sense of humor inside and outside the classroom, and his ability to make learning chemistry interesting and fun. If you asked Dr. Harris what he did for a living, he would not tell you he was a college professor, he would tell you that he was a teacher. Teaching was both his genius and his passion; over his lifetime, thousands of young adults were touched by Dr. Harris's concern for students and commitment to education.

Harris is survived by his wife Maggie, whom he met and married while at the University of Iowa in 1955, his son Paul and his daughters Linda Mimms (son-in-law Larry, grandchildren Lauren, Jared, and Evan), and Annie McNeil (son-in-law Chris, grandchildren Dylan and Evan).

Memorials may be made to the Leland Harris Award in Chemistry at Knox College, a fund that supports undergraduate research in chemistry. Checks may be mailed to the Leland Harris Award, c/o Knox College Office of Advancement, 2 East South Street, Campus Box K 230, Galesburg, IL 61401, or by calling 1-888-566-9265. Condolences can be sent to Maggie Harris, 170 Balfour Drive, Winter Park, FL 32792.

Leland Harris, below, with student. Photos courtesy Paul Harris