Clare (Pitkin) Livak '75
Student
Professor Williams made Fluids seem so easy. He had a way of explaining principles that made sense. I enjoyed his classes.
Doug Hathaway '80
Student
One of two indelible memories of Dr. Williams occurred the afternoon before Thanksgiving. I had a mid afternoon class and was the only person to show up for the class. He looked around, and said “well, you have me for an hour, what do you want to do?” We went into the classroom and worked out problems on the board for the entire hour, one-on-one. To me, that experience defines HMC and Dr. Williams.
Chuck Lemme '66
Student
Dr. Williams was a fantastic teacher in that he had a way of explaining complicated stuff using the fundamentals of the subject so that the subject matter became part of your world view. He taught me strength oh materials and thermo and when I was the only one to sign up for his elasticity class, instead of cancelling it, he taught me one one one in his office. I have very fond memories of him. He was one of a kind.
Philip Cha
Colleague
Knowing that I’m a die hard Michigan football fan, Harry loved to make fun of the Wolverines, especially after each loss. As a result, I always dreaded going to work following a Michigan defeat, knowing that Harry would stop by sooner or later to give me some grief. Anyways, in 2000, UCLA played host to Michigan at the Rose Bowl early in the football season. I believe at the time Michigan was ranked #2 or #3 in the country, and was heavily favored to win the game. Desperately wanting to get even, I invited Harry to the game, thinking that I would finally have the last laugh. To my dismay, Michigan lost that day. I don’t remember much of the game, but I do remember how much fun I had with Harry. Never thought I would ever enjoy a game in which Michigan was on the losing end. To this day, every time I watch a Michigan game, I would think of Harry. I will miss him.
Nancy Lape
Colleague
Harry had already retired by the time I began my faculty position at HMC in 2005, but he was always active both physically – with his regular swims – and intellectually. Harry would stop by my office to see what I was up to in class, in clinic, and in research; he read the reports of several of my clinic teams out of pure intellectual curiosity. He gave me a hard time for preferring running to swimming and told me I was going to fall apart someday from all of the impact. For all of these reasons (except the whole running vs. swimming debate!), I always thought of Harry as a role model; my husband and I always say we want to be like Harry when we “grow up”. Harry was an important fixture of the department and I cannot believe he is gone; he will be sorely missed.