James Morrison - Emeritus Professor
Albert Kobayashi & Jim Morrison Endowed Lectureship in ME
Biography
Prior to his tenure at the University of Washington, James B. Morrison attended William and Mary College from 1939 to 1941 and Virginia Polytechnic Institute from 1941 to 1943. He received a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from VPI in 1943. He entered the U.S. Army Air Force in 1943. Following graduation from maintenance and flight engineering schools, he was assigned as a flight engineer on a B-29. He served seven months in China, and was awarded the Purple Heart and other decorations for service in the Asiatic-Pacific Theater. Following the war he joined The Boeing Company as a Detail Engineer, working there from November 1945 until March 1946.In March 1946 he accepted a position as Acting Associate in General Engineering at the University of Washington, teaching Graphics and Mechanics. He was appointed Instructor in Mechanical Engineering the following year. In September 1949 he was appointed Assistant Professor in Mechanical Engineering, teaching Design and Graphics. He was promoted to Associate Professor in 1955 and Professor in 1960.
He also attended the University of Washington from 1947 to 1954, and was granted the degree of Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering in 1954. His thesis title was "Study of a Sealing Problem," and dealt with marine cable seals. He was the faculty advisor to the Student Branch, American Society of Mechanical Engineers, from 1950 through 1953, and served as Chair of the Pacific Northwest Section, American Society for Engineering Education, in 1960. Professor Morrison served as Undergraduate Advisor for the Department of Mechanical Engineering from 1961 to 1968. From July 1974 through June 1978 he served as Executive Director of the Engineering Advising Center. Professor Morrison was an unusually effective and popular teacher of design, dynamics and mechanics. His forte was classroom teaching of undergraduate students.
