IN MEMORIAM

Gail Harrison

Professor of Community Health Sciences

UC Los Angeles

1943—2015

Born Gail Kathleen Grigsby to parents Richard and Marjorie Grigsby, Dr. Harrison attended the University of California at Santa Barbara, Cornell University, and the University of Arizona, where she received a PhD in Biological Anthropology in 1976.

 

After 15-year tenure at UA as a Professor in the Department of Family & Community Medicine, Dr. Harrison relocated to California to assume a similar position at the UCLA School of Public Health until her retirement in 2013. She was involved in many teaching and research endeavors, especially focusing on the nutrition and health of underserved and impoverished children, mothers, and families.  

 

Dr Harrison repeatedly was called upon to consult with the World Health Organization, US Women Infants and Children feeding program (WIC), and UNICEF. She was elected to membership in the Institute of Medicine in 2003.

 

Dr. Harrison was predeceased by her brother, Richard S. Grigsby Jr., and is survived by her husband, Osman Galal; children Tim Harrison and Malinda Bess Harrison; stepchildren Mona and Khalid Galal; stepmother Susan Grigsby; step-siblings Cherrill Kawakami, Barbara LeBlanc, & William Davis Jr.; and five grandchildren.