His name graces the field at Scott Stadium, the grounds of the University's Law School and the Institute for American History, Literature and Culture, which currently is under construction as part of the special collections library.
The University lost one of its greatest friends and supporters June 8 when David Alexander Harrison III died from complications with Alzheimer's Disease.
A 1939 College graduate who also graduated from the Law School in 1941, Harrison proved one of the most generous benefactors to the community, having donated more than $26 million to University projects.
"David Harrison was distinguished not only by his generosity but particularly by the breadth of his interests at the University of Virginia," said Robert D. Sweeney, University vice president for development. "Mr. Harrison was truly a Jeffersonian renaissance man."
His contributions included endowed professorships in medicine, both the playing field and President's Box at Scott Stadium and the Harrison Institute, which also will house the Albert H. Small Special Collection Library. Harrison also made substantial donations to the Law School, whose grounds are named in his honor.
Harrison also endowed the David A. Harrison III Awards, which grant stipends each year to students wishing to pursue research opportunities under the direction of a faculty advisor.
"His investment in the future of the University was a major part of his personal philosophy, and he shared [University President] John Casteen's vision of the University as a leader in American education," Sweeney said. "It was a shared vision and philosophy which developed into a deep friendship enjoyed both by Mr. Harrison and President Casteen."
Beyond his legacy as a major donor to University campaigns, Casteen spoke of Harrison's love of travel, collecting furniture, architectural ideas and art from his vacations in Africa, Asia, Europe and large expanses of America.
Following his successful career as an attorney and investment banker, Harrison became an avid farmer at his family home, Flowerdew Hundred Farm, outside Hopewell, where he became involved in crop planting and overseeing large building and landscaping projects.
"As an older man, when he and I were friends, he was a thoughtful and quietly funny man who enjoyed the pleasures of a life well lived," Casteen said. "He liked to talk about his children's successes and his grandchildren's. He took a keen interest in my own family, and always wanted to know what each member was doing. He was wonderfully kind to me-always knew my ups and downs, always followed what I was trying to do, always offered thoughts on how to deal with adversity along with celebratory words when things went well."
His generosity to the University merely reflected his love for the school as an alumnus and his vision that the University be second to none, Casteen added.
"He liked students," he added.
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