Harold P. Hanson's Obituary
Harold P. Hanson passed away at home in Gainesville, FL on April 7, 2016 from natural causes.
Born in Virginia, Minnesota on December 27, 1921 to the late Bernard and Ella Hanson, he was a first generation American Norwegian. Harold developed an early love of the written word and spent many hours in the local public library. He earned a B.S. from Superior State Teachers College (University of Wisconsin at Superior) in 1942 and an M.S. in Physics from University of Wisconsin in Madison in 1944. While there he lettered in tennis. Harold served as an Ensign in the Navy during WWII, conducting research on improving torpedo guidance systems. He married the late Mary Jean Stevenson in 1944 and they were together for 68 years, until her death in 2012.
After the war Harold returned to UW where he earned a PHD in physics in 1948. He first came to UF as an Instructor in 1948, leaving in 1954 as an Associate Professor to go to Univ. of Texas. He was a Fulbright Research Fellow in Norway in 1960 and served as Chairman of the Physics Department at Texas from 1961-1969. He returned to UF in 1969 as Dean of the Graduate School, serving as VP for Academic Affairs from 1971-1974 and as Executive VP from 1974-1978. During this time, he helped UF’s library acquire the Price Judaica Collection which gave him great satisfaction. Harold then served as Provost at Boston University (1978-1980) and Provost at Wayne State University (1982-1984) His career culminated as the Executive Director for the committee on Science, Space and Technology for the U.S. House of Representatives. He served in that capacity from 1980-1982 and from 1984 until his retirement in 1990.
He returned to UF as an adjunct professor and was the editor of Delos, a translation journal. His love of literature was further manifested by his volunteering for Friends of the Library, and the establishment of the Harold and Mary Jean Rare Book Fund at UF. He collaborated with a Norwegian friend to translate and publish Ungdom (Youth), a collection of poems by Norwegian Nobel laurate Sigrid Undset. Harold was a member of numerous professional and honorary societies as well as public service committees. He received many awards during his life including St. Olav’s Medal, Order of the North Star, UF Presidential Medallion, a Congressional Commendation, and Franklin Medal.
He is survived by his two children, Barbara Herbert (John) of Gainesville and Steve Hanson (Janice) of Austin; four grandchildren, Erik Hanson, Chris Hanson, Michael Herbert, Sandra Herbert Decker (Chris) and two great-grandchildren, Jordan Decker and Cameron Decker.
A memorial service will be held Monday, April 18, 2016 at 3:00 at WILLIAMS-THOMAS FUNERAL HOME WESTAREA, 823 NW 143rd Street. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the University of Florida Physics Department, P.O. Box 118440, Gainesville, FL 32611.
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