Robert S. "Dick" Harrison '53

Robert S. “Dick” Harrison ’53 P’82,’85 GP ’14 H’01, on May 26, 2012, of complications related to cancer. The Cincinnati man was eighty.

He was a loyal, active, and generous supporter of the College. Dick was an economics major and was a member of the tennis team and Beta Theta Pi. He served as a trustee from 1990-99 and then became an emeritus trustee. Dick earned a master’s in business administration at Cornell University in 1955.

 Dick also served as a class agent, reunion chair, and as president of the Cincinnati Regional Association. He was a former member of the Parents Advisory Council. Dick twice won the Alumni Council Distinguished Service Award, in 1988 and 1998.

He was distinguished by his leadership, said emeritus trustee Cornelia Ireland Hallinan ’76 H’91. “He chaired the essential Buildings and Grounds Committee, where his attention to the critical relationship between Kenyon and the village of Gambier helped maintain a cordial relationship between the two,” she said. As chair of the Building and Grounds Committee, Dick helped oversee construction of Storer Hall and the planning and early work on the natural-sciences quadrangle.

“Dick was smart, thoughtful, friendly, and kind,” Hallinan added. “I recall several conversations with him as I was about to become the chair of the board. He led me personally by being willing to carefully teach and guide me in what was uncharted territory for me.”

Dick became a mainstay at the Baldwin Piano and Organ Company, where he worked for forty-one years and served as chairman and chief executive officer before his retirement in 1996. He began work at Baldwin, first in the budget department and then ascending through management ranks to become assistant treasurer to the president and eventually CEO of Baldwin United. In 1984, he led a leveraged buyout of the company and guided it through a period of diversification and consolidation that included the purchase of Wurlitzer and the relocation of the company from Cincinnati to Loveland, Ohio.

He was an active member of the Cincinnati community and chaired the Fine Arts Fund (now Arts Wave). He served on many boards, including the Cincinnati Country Day School, Cincinnati Summer Opera Association, Children’s Home, Children’s Hospital, the Episcopal Retirement Homes, Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden, and St. Thomas Episcopal Church. He was president of the L.B. Harrison Club, an organization that dates to 1914 and provided low-cost housing and recreational facilities for young men.

And he loved to putter around on his sixty acres on the outskirts of Cincinnati. “He was always on the move, always disappearing from his old brick house to do some chore in the fields or woods,” said his son Jeffrey Harrison P’14. “When we couldn’t find him, we had to go outside and listen for the sound of his tractor, his chainsaw, or the rumble of his prized 1946 Willys Jeep.”

Dick kept his many accomplishments in perspective. Upon receiving his honorary doctorate, he observed, “When I look at the list of past honorary degree recipients, when I think of the extraordinary achievement of my fellow recipients today, and when I compare my less-than-stellar undergraduate record with those of students receiving awards today, my thoughts begin to focus on a single question: What am I doing here?” The answer came, in part, from Kathy J. Krynski, associate provost and Himmelright Associate Professor of Economics, who said Dick “played a major role in shaping the goals of the (Claiming Our Place) campaign, in particular identifying needs for new facilities in science and music.” She added that Dick “worked energetically to see those goals realized.”

Harrison’s love for Kenyon and love of music led to a gift that resulted in the naming of the Anne and Dick Harrison Green Room in Storer Hall.

Kenyon played a central role in Dick’s life. He met his wife, Anne, while he was living in Gambier and she was a student at Denison University. Two of his children—Jeremy Harrison ’82 and Ellen Harrison Foley ’85—graduated from Kenyon. Grandson William Harrison ’14 attends the College.

“Dad always did tell us how much he loved it there, and I know he was thrilled when I decided to go to Kenyon and later when my sister, Ellen, attended,” Jeremy said.

Dick is survived by Anne, his wife of fifty-eight years; sons Jeffrey and Jeremy; daughter, Ellen Harrison (Foley); and nine grandchildren. He was predeceased by his son Charles Harrison. Memorial contributions may be sent to St. Thomas, 100 Miami Avenue, Terrace Park, Ohio, 45174, or the Cincinnati Nature Center, 4949 Tealtown Road, Milford, Ohio, 45150.