Richard Harrison (scientist)


Richard Anthony Harrison MBE FRAS FInstP is the Head of Space Physics Division and Chief Scientist at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in the United Kingdom. He is best known for his magnetic twisting theory involving the coronal heating problem of the Sun's atmosphere.
He was born in Solihull, West Midlands and attended Solihull Sixth Form College and Birmingham University.
Whilst in his late teens, and as a keen acoustic guitarist, he set up a band called Capella. Fellow band members were his brother, Jeremy, and David J Nutting. They performed locally and were influenced by John Denver and The Eagles, amongst others.
Richard Harrison received his B.Sc in 1979 and his Ph.D. in 1983 from the University of Birmingham, United Kingdom. He then became SER as well as on the solar and Heliospheric Observatory. He has been author or co-author of more than 70 articles published in international journals and books.
Richard Harrison served as Editor of the Society’s journal Annales Geophysicae and as General Editor for the COSPAR Information Bulletin as well as member of several committees related to the Royal Society and to ESA, COSPAR or EGS.
Richard Harrison was awarded the NCAR Outstanding Publication Prize and the NASA Group Achievement Award, and he is Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society, Member of the International Astronomical Union and Corresponding Member of the International Academy of Astronautics.
He was awarded the MBE in the 2004 Queen's Birthday Honours List for his services to Solar Research.

In popular media

Harrison appeared in a Horizon TV program, Secrets of the Star Disc, in 2004.
Harrison was also acknowledged in the credits to Wonders of the Solar System: Empire of the Sun, 2010, a BBC TV series.