In memoriam: Professor Emeritus Paul J Harrison, FRSC

It is with great sadness that EOAS announces the passing of our colleague Paul J. Harrison on 17 December 2016, after a brief illness.  Paul joined the Department of Oceanography in 1975 after completing his PhD at the University of Washington. He soon built an internationally recognized program in Biological Oceanography, which trained 45 graduate students, 15 postdoctoral scholars and countless undergraduates, many of whom went on to be leaders in academia, government and industry. He published >300 refereed scientific papers (nearly 50 in the last 5 years), authored “The Bible” of seaweed physiology and ecology, and is one of the most highly cited scholars in his discipline. Despite being the recipient of many awards, including being elected to the Royal Society of Canada, Paul was a humble individual that was always willing to put the achievements of others above his own. He was also an exceptional educator, and was the first recipient of UBC’s Graduate Teaching Award. In 2002, he left UBC to become the Director of the Graduate Program in Atmospheric and Marine Science at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, prior to returning to EOAS as Professor Emeritus in 2010, where he remained as active, as ever.   A celebration of Paul’s life is planned to occur on 26 March from 1pm to 4pm in the Earth Sciences Building, followed by an optional casual dinner. Please RSVP here if you can attend. A website that honours Paul's contributions and which accepts donations for a scholarship in his memory can be found here.