Harry Lee Morrison

Harry Lee Morrison (October 7, 1932 – January 14, 2002) was an American theoretical physicist and the first African American physics faculty member at the University of California, Berkeley. His research focused on statistical mechanics within theoretical physics, and he was known for his demonstration in 1972 of the absence of long-range order in quantum systems in two dimensions, that was a result from the breaking of a continuous symmetry.

Morrison was also a founding member of the National Society of Black Physicists.

Early life and education Harry L. Morrison was born on October 7, 1932, in Arlington, Virginia. As a child, he attended primary school in divisions 10-13 in Washington, D.C., as the Virginia public school system was segregated.

In 1955, he received his bachelor's degree in chemistry from Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., which was one a limited number of integrated universities in the area at the time. The year he received his bachelor's degree, Rutherford T. Atkins became the first African American person to receive a PhD from the university. Subsequently, he earned his doctorate in chemistry at Catholic University of America in 1960. At Catholic, he studied under Karl Herzfield, Clyde Cowan, and Theodore Litovitz. His thesis was titled "Theoretical Investigation of Linear H3" and his doctoral advisor was Virginia Griffing. His thesis research was supported in part by the U.S. Air Force and the Air Force Office of Scientific Research. and participated in sessions of the Summer Institute for Theoretical Physics at the University of Colorado, Boulder.

Career After receiving his PhD, Morrison completed a one-year National Research Council postdoctoral fellowship at the National Bureau of Standards. There, he worked in the Statistical Physics Division which was then led by Melville S. Green.

In 1972, Morrison joined the faculty of the physics department at the University of California, Berkeley, as an assistant professor. In 1977, he became full professor at UC Berkeley, where he would work for the remainder of his career.

While at UC Berkeley, Morrison supported the creation of the university's Black Studies program. Along with Robert Henry Bragg Jr., as members of the program's Policy Review Board, he taught a survey course titled "The African American Experience in Science and Technology" covering the physical and biological sciences and engineering, and featuring expert speakers to address the role of African Americans in these fields of study.

National Society of Black Physicists Morrison was a founding member of the National Society of Black Physicists and one of its first fellows. While on leave from the University of California, Berkeley and teaching at Howard University, Morrison served as a member of the Awards Committee and gave remarks at the first meeting of what would become the NSBP in December 1972. This first meeting honored physicists Halson V. Eagleson, John McNeile Hunter, and Donald A. Edwards. In 1976, following a meeting at Morgan State University, Morrison was part of a group that contributed to the initial plans for the formal NSBP (then called the Society of Black Physicists).

Death Morrison died on January 14, 2002, from a heart attack at his home in Berkeley, California.

Legacy The Harry L. Morrison Scholarship issued at the National Society of Black Physicists was named for Morrison.

Personal life Morrison was married to Harriett Morrison, and they had one daughter.