Robert and Freda Harrison - “Designing a Better Tomorrow”
Robert and Freda Harrison
Robert V. M. Harrison of Madison has enjoyed a 30-year history with Mississippi State University's architecture school. As a retired architect and a former adjunct faculty member, he wants to ensure the school is structurally sound for years to come.
Many of the milestones of Mississippi State's architecture school can be linked to Harrison. He was instrumental in the school's founding in 1973. Harrison also helped to implement the fifth-year class program in Jackson and taught there for many years.
Today, Harrison continues to offer assistance and advice to Mississippi State and its School of Architecture whenever possible. It is a rewarding relationship he plans to continue.
Harrison recently pledged the proceeds from the sale of 10 acres of commercial property in Jackson to a future endowment. Mississippi State will use the gift to create the Robert V. M. Harrison and Freda Wallace Harrison Endowed Fund for Excellence in the School of Architecture within the College of Architecture, Art and Design. The earnings from the endowment will continue the couple's sponsorship of a previously established lecture series as well. Any remaining earnings from the endowment will benefit the school's advancement fund.
At the age of 13, Harrison set his sights on becoming an architect. Since there was no architecture program in the state at the time, he enrolled at the University of Mississippi where he completed his pre-architectural studies. He later earned a Bachelor of Architecture from Tulane University and a Master of Architecture from the University of Florida. His final stop was Tulane University, where he received an MBA.
Early in his career, Harrison returned to Mississippi. After being named president of the state chapter of the American Institute of Architects, he assisted Mississippi State University with its quest to become the only university in the state with an architecture school.
Harrison became the first faculty member of the School of Architecture's first fifth-year class in 1977. The program was the first full self-contained off campus program in the country. He served as an adjunct faculty member through 1990. During much of this time, he also owned his own architectural and consulting firm.
Harrison's personal commitment to the school grew stronger as he served on its advisory council. He established the first full-tuition one year scholarship for an incoming freshman in architecture at MSU. It was the school's first scholarship from an individual rather than from a business. He was also instrumental in a fundraising effort to endow a library fund.
Thanks to his investment in architecture education through MSU's School of Architecture, he is helping to ensure the success of quality architects for generations to come.
