J. C. "Chris" Harrison

Chris was part of CIRES from its earliest conception in 1966. He became the founding director of CIRES in the fall of 1967, a position he held until 1972. Chris' received his Ph.D. from Cambridge, and his broad interests in the geophysical sciences were centered on gravity and geodesy. He is recognized as the person most responsible for the birth and early nurturing of a prominent program in geophysics at the University of Colorado Boulder. His research on crustal deformation remained an important component of the global CU Boulder effort. In 1976 he proceeded to develop and deploy borehole tiltmeters. Chris left the University of Colorado in 1982 to accept a position in the private sector in California.