Michael J. Harrison, born August 20, 1932, died April 7, 2018. He grew up in a close extended family, on the South Side to become the first Jewish president of his high school senior class.
With a full scholarship to Harvard College, he graduated with honors, and then had a Van Loon Fellowship in physics to the University of Leyden, the Netherlands. Michael returned to the University of Chicago for his PhD, followed by a two year post-doc at the University of Birmingham, England, under the mentorship of Sir Rudolph Peierls.
In 1961, Michael joined the faculty of MSU, where he spent his entire career, finally retiring in 2007. In addition to his work in theoretical physics, he had several administrative assignments including Dean of Lyman Briggs College for eight years.
Michael is survived by his wife, Ann of 47 years; his sister, Esther (Jerome) Delson; Esther's three children as well as numerous other nieces and nephews. He had been a Lansing Rotary member since 1976 and resigned in 2014.