Faculty Spotlight: Dr. Richard Harrison

During the next month, some of Dr. Richard Harrison’s favorite words won’t be in English. Dr. Harrison, the associate dean of the College of Education, will be practicing pronouncing Chinese words like ni hao (pronounced knee how), which means hello, and wan-an, which means goodbye. That’s because Dr. Harrison will take part in the 15th annual International Conference of the Sino-American Education Consortium in China during the month of June.

The program was founded in 1986 with the goals of improving education and teacher education in China and the United States by sharing information and materials, exchanging faculty and students between the two countries, establishing sister-school relationships, and bringing greater understanding to cross-cultural, international, comparative education, and multi-cultural studies. It is headed by Dr. Yipping Wan, dean of the Bagwell College of Education at Kennesaw State University, and a close friend of Dr. Harrison’s.

For Dr. Harrison, the trip will offer more than an opportunity to sightsee.

“I’ve never been to China,” he says. “I’ve been to Romania and Moscow and worked with orphans there, but this will be different because we’ll be with a group of deans from the state, and we’ll be meeting with officials and talking about education.”

Education has been a lifelong passion for Dr. Harrison, an ASU faculty member since 1972. He says he knew what he wanted to do at a young age, and he found his future career through one of his other passions—swimming.

“I went to college on a swimming scholarship and started coaching swim teams,” he says. “I knew then that I enjoyed working with young people.”

Dr. Harrison began working at ASU as an instructor of physical education in 1972. In 1991, he was named as the chair of the Department of Health and Physical Education at then-Augusta College. He served as acting dean of the College of Education in 2003 and is now the associate dean. In his position, he’s able to provide first-hand knowledge of the accreditation process to his colleagues.

In his 30-plus years on the campus of this university, Dr. Harrison has also been a witness to many changes, both in physical facilities and curriculum.

“It’s been exciting to see,” he says. “I’ve always thought that the change was for good. Particularly in the last five years, I’ve seen changes in education that I haven’t seen in the last 30 years.”

Dr. Harrison earned bachelor’s and doctoral degrees from the University of Georgia and his master’s degree from the University of South Carolina in Columbia.

Outside of work, he enjoys reading, playing tennis, swimming, working in the yard, and traveling.

Who: Dr. Richard Harrison

Position: Associate Dean, College of Education

How long at ASU: Since 1972

Family: Wife, Sue Ellen; daughters, Jennifer, Amy and Christine; son, Matthew.

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