Walter Harrison (university administrator)

Walter Lee Harrison, (born May 15, 1946) a native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is an American scholar of American Literature and Culture, and serves as the President of the University of Hartford, in West Hartford, CT.

Harrison graduated from Trinity College in 1968 and earned a master's degree from the University of Michigan in 1969. He subsequently served as a captain in the United States Air Force before earning his doctorate from the University of California-Davis.

He began his career as an educator, teaching English and American Studies at Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz in Mainz, Germany, Iowa State University and Colorado College. Harrison continues to educate in the field of English, teaching one course per year at the University of Hartford where, in addition to being the university's president, he holds the rank of resident professor.

Following his educational career, Harrison left full-time teaching to take an administrative position at Colorado College. He joined Gehrung Associates University Relations Counselors in 1985, where he worked with such clients as the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, Bryn Mawr College, Smith College and Williams College. He became president of the firm shortly thereafter. In 1989 Harrison moved to the University of Michigan, where he became vice president of university relations and secretary of the university.

Harrison chairs the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Committee on Academic Performance.

Harrison has been president of the University of Hartford since 1998. During Harrison's tenure, the University of Hartford has undertaken a vigorous and comprehensive building campaign in an attempt to modify the archaic and outdated structures, most of which were built in the 1960s.