Steve Harrison Showcase

Steven J. Harrison, PhD, CMI, FAMI

Professor Emeritus, Steven J. Harrison, PhD, CMI, FAMI, touched many lives through his active involvement in the Association of Medical Illustrators (AMI), in his service as a mentor, and as faculty and Chair in the Department of Medical Illustration at Augusta University. We have lost a great leader in our field, and countless alumni and professionals in the field feel his loss.

Steve Harrison grew up in White Plains, New York. Even in high school, Steve knew he wanted to be a medical illustrator. He attended the Medical Illustration Graduate Program at the Medical College of Georgia (Augusta University) where he earned his Master of Science in Medical Illustration in 1970. Steve's first professional job was in Houston at Baylor Medical Center. Later, he moved on to Phoenix and the new Arizona Heart Institute (AHI), where he was Director of Communications and an award-winning animator.

In 1973 Steve joined the faculty of the Biomedical Communications program at the University of Texas at Dallas, where he continued to produce award-winning work. In 1977, Steve returned to the AHI to assume the role of Medical Art Director for the renowned surgeon, Edward Dietrich, MD. In 1983 Steve and colleague Dick Williams received an EMMY award (Rocky Mountain) from the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences for the documentary, "A Child of Courage: David Mendoza – Heart Transplantation Recipient." Steve is still the only medical illustrator ever to have won an EMMY.

In 1984, Steve started work at Barrow Neurological Institute at St. Joseph's Hospital, where he was privileged to work with celebrated neurosurgeon Robert F. Spetzler, MD. Over his career, he had numerous mentees and interns. One former intern shared that being assigned to Steve for an AMI internship was the luckiest event in her professional life.

Steve often felt he was lucky in life. Steve quoted Al Unser, Sr., 4-time Indy 500 winner, saying, "Luck is where opportunity meets preparation."

Steve was encouraged to apply to work as faculty in the Georgia Medical Illustration Graduate Program (Augusta University), and we got lucky.

In 1991 Steve returned to Augusta as an Assistant Professor in the Georgia Program. In 1994, Steve became Department Chairman and Program Director. While a professor, Steve was known for his rules, such as the 50% and 100% rules. With his many talents, teaching may have been his greatest – Steve touched the lives of over 225 students, which is well over half of the Georgia Medical Illustration Graduate Program. In 2006, Steve was recognized with the prestigious, Brödel Award of Excellence for Education from the AMI for his significant impact on education in medical illustration. Throughout his career, he impacted the lives of the Georgia program students and young professional medical illustrators.

Outside of medical illustration, Steve loved fast cars and the art of the Western United States. In fact, in 2008, Steve received his Doctor of Philosophy in Art from the University of Georgia. Steve's love of western art is evident in his dissertation, "The Maintenance of Traditional Methods and Symbolism in Southwestern Native American Art." After retirement, Steve moved to Arizona and then to New Mexico to continue his passion of landscape painting. Steve was an award-winning illustrator with numerous awards from the AMI and the BioCommunications Association, including lifetime achievement awards from each organization. In 2010, after 16 years of leadership in the department and an outstanding career in medical illustration, the School of Allied Health Sciences at the Medical College of Georgia (Augusta University) presented Steve with the Distinguished Alumnus Award.

Steve was a collaborator and lifelong learner, who believed in the power of a strong team. In his acceptance speech for the AMI Lifetime Achievement award in 2012, Steve said, "I have always thought it important to team up with others with greater knowledge, talent, and experience - and then to learn all you can from them."

We were fortunate to have such a kind and generous person on our team at Augusta University. We will miss our teacher and friend.

Amanda Y. Behr, MA, CMI, FAMI

The editors would like to thank Amanda Behr for providing Steve's beautifully written biographical content. Amanda is the Chair of the Department of Medical Illustration at Augusta University in Georgia.

The editors also wish to thank the Neuroscience Publications Department at Barrow Neurological Institute (Phoenix, Arizona) for providing digital scans of Steve's illustrations, when he worked at BNI.

Illustrations contained in this JBC Showcase are fully copyrighted by either Steve Harrison, the Arizona Heart Institute, Barrow Neurological Institute, and/or Augusta University (Augusta, Georgia).