David Harrison, U.Va. benefactor, died June 8

Staff Report

David Alexander Harrison III, 85, a lawyer, investment banker, farmer, philanthropist and generous benefactor of the University, died June 8 at his Prince George County home, Flowerdew Hundred Farm, from complications of Alzheimer’s disease.

Harrison’s affiliation with the University spanned decades. He served as a trustee of the Law School Foundation, a member of the Alumni Association Board of Managers and a member of both the University and the Law School campaign executive committees. Harrison and his wife, Mary, established professorships in law, medicine and archaeology, and provided funding for the David A. Harrison III Awards for Undergraduate Research, which most recently benefited 42 recipients.

He also contributed to the football program and to the rebuilding of the Law Grounds. Construction on his most recent philanthropic project, the Mary and David Harrison Institute of American History, Literature and Culture, recently got under way.

“He was blessed with a long field of vision,” said University President John T. Casteen III. “When he planted mimosas or rhododendron at Flowerdew, he calculated placements, arrangements and distances on the basis of how things would be in 50 years.

“His and Mrs. Harrison’s many gifts always predicted future returns on their investments. They wanted to support teaching first and foremost. He admired teaching that provoked young people to look to the future, to imagine challenges and accomplishments at something like 50 years’ distance.”

Born Aug. 30, 1916, in Petersburg, he was the son of attorney David A. Harrison Jr. and Elizabeth D. Harrison. After receiving undergraduate and law degrees from U.Va., he enlisted in the U.S. Army 12 days after the attack on Pearl Harbor, served on Gen. Douglas MacArthur’s staff in the Philippines and was discharged in August 1944 as a captain. In 1944, he married Mary Francis Anderson of Old Brookville, N.Y., who died in 1990.

Harrison is survived by two sons and three daughters, 13 grandchildren, two great-grandchildren; two sisters and a brother. Another brother died in 1989.

Harrison began his career at the Freeport Sulphur Co. in New York and in 1947, joined the New City law firm of White & Case, where he specialized in corporate law. In 1961, he joined the securities firm, Reynolds & Co. (now Morgan Stanley), later becoming a partner.

In 1987, the Harrisons moved to Flowerdew Hundred Farm in Prince George County, which they had purchased in 1967. Harrison pursued his love of farming and devoted more time to overseeing archaeological excavations.

Dating from 1617, Flowerdew Hundred is one of the oldest English settlements in the U.S. The Harrisons established the Flowerdew Hundred Foundation to oversee the archaeological studies and promote education through museum and site tours on the farm.

A memorial service was held June 13 at Flowerdew Hundred.