Tutorial Lecture: The Art of Communication in the Sciences

After a day filled with registration and short courses, Willard W. Harrison kicked off a series of three lectures with his tutorial lecture on Sunday night at the 57th ASMS Conference held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Harrison is Dean Emeritus and a professor in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Florida, Gainesville. Harrison’s lecture was followed by another tutorial lecture delivered by David E. Clemmer of Indiana University and, finally, the plenary lecture given by Jerald L. Schnoor of the University of Iowa. The lectures were followed by a welcome reception.

Willard Harrison was born in McLeansboro, Illinois. He received the B.A. and M.S. degrees in Chemistry from Southern Illinois University in 1958 and 1960 and the Ph.D. degree from the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana in 1964, where he held several Fellowships. Dr. Harrison joined the faculty of the University of Virginia as Assistant Professor in 1964, was promoted to Associate Professor in 1969, to Full Professor in 1974, and served as Chemistry Department Chairman, 1978–1981 as well as Associate Provost for Academic Support, 1982–1986. In 1988, he joined the faculty of the University of Florida as Professor of Chemistry and Dean of the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences. He was a Visiting Scientist at the Max-Planck-Institute for Plasmaphysics in Munich, 1975-1976; a Fulbright-Hayes Senior Research Scholar, at the University of Paris, Department of Solid State Physics, 1981; a Visiting Scholar at Stanford University Department of Chemistry, 1982, Department of Geology, 1987–1988; and is a Guest Professor of the SEDC Laboratory of Analytical for Material and Life Process at the Xiamen University in Xiamen China, 1997–2002. He received the Service Recognition Award from the FBI National Academy, 1970–1980, the Distinguished Service Award from the Virginia Section of the American Chemical Society, 1981, the Lester W. Strock Award from the Society for Applied Spectroscopy, 1993, and the Alumni Achievement Award from Southern Illinois University, 1995.

With four days of courses and lectures to go, the 57th edition of this famed conference is shaping up as one to remember.