Harrison Shull, former chancellor of the University of Colorado at Boulder, died July 28 in Monterey, Calif. He was 79.
Shull, a distinguished scholar, educator and administrator, was appointed chancellor of CU-Boulder in 1982 and held the position until stepping down in 1985. Later that year he became provost at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, Calif. He retired in 1995.
Among his accomplishments at CU-Boulder, Shull played a leadership role in moving the university toward the computer age. He also was instrumental in forming the Colorado Alliance for Science, a consortium of educators, business leaders and government officials aimed at improving science teaching in public schools.
From 1955-1979 he was a professor in the chemistry department at Indiana University in Bloomington. He also served as dean of the Graduate School and as the university's vice president. While at IU he became an innovator in computer development and use, starting the Quantum Chemistry Program Exchange and heading the university's Research Computing Center.
He left IU to serve as provost and vice president for Academic Affairs at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, where he stayed from 1979 to 1982.
Throughout his career and retirement, Shull was active on a number of boards and commissions, including the Federal Manpower Commission, the Institute for Defense Analysis and the Naval Studies Board. He was an active member of the National Academy of Sciences, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, American Chemical Society and several other scientific associations.
Shull graduated from Princeton with highest honors in 1943. From 1943 to 1945 he served in the U.S. Navy at the Naval Research Laboratory. He earned his doctorate in physical chemistry at the University of California, Berkeley in 1948.
He is survived by his wife, Willa; seven children, Kathy Abascal, Holly Shull Vogel, George Harrison Shull II, Warren Long, Jeff Long, Stan Shull and Sarah Shull; and 10 grandchildren. He is remembered by his family as a loving husband and father, a man of great integrity and a generous spirit with sparkling eyes who will be terribly missed.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Indiana University Foundation for the Harrison Shull Memorial Lectureship fund.