Attorney, Reynolds & Company; University of Virginia benefactor
David A. Harrison III was born in 1916 in Virginia, the son of an attorney. He attended Episcopal High School in Alexandria, Virginia and received his undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Virginia, in 1939 and 1941 respectively. He served in the U.S. Army during World War II and attained the rank of Captain. He spent his career at White & Case, where he specialized in corporate law, and Reynolds & Company in New York City, where he became a partner. Harrison retired to Flowerdew Hundred Farm in Prince George County to pursue his love of farming and to devote time to the architectural excavations on Flowerdew, which date back to 1617. The Harrisons established the Flowerdew Hundred Foundation to oversee the archaeological studies and promote education through museum and site tours on the farm.
Harrison was closely affiliated with the University of Virginia: he was 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. Mr. and Mrs. Harrison endowed professorships in law, medicine, and archaeology, and the David A. Harrison Awards for Undergraduate Research, which are given annually. Harrison died in 2002, having donated in excess of $150 million to the university. University President John Casteen III said of Harrison: “David Harrison’s generosity has made its imprint on the University in ways both profound and long-lasting. Through this forward-looking gift, he has strengthened immeasurably the schools and programs that were always closest to his heart—law, medicine, athletics, and the study of our nation and its people.” The Law School grounds, the field of Scott Stadium, and the Mary and David Harrison Institute for American History, Literature, and Culture are all named in his honor as one of UVA’s most generous donors.
© by the Rector and Visitors of the University of Virginia
1800s