Obituary of Dr. William L. Harkness
Dr William L Harkness, 86 of State College, Pa passed away from COVID19 on Feb 2, 2021. He was born on June 25, 1934 in Lansing Michigan. He is survived by his wife Yildiz Akin (State College, Pa), whom he married in 1980, his first wife Mary Lou Andrews (Spring Mills, Pa) and their three children Judy (Ginger) Edighoffer (Pleasanton, Ca), Tammy Harkness (Hereford, Pa), William (Andy) Harkness (Bethel Park, Pa), his granddaughter Justine Harkness (Pittsburgh, Pa) and great grandson Alexander (Alex) Roeder (Pittsburgh, Pa). He was preceded in death by his father, Hallie L Harkness, mother Hilda (Thompson) Harkness, his six brothers (Hallie, Richard, Robert, Frederick, Jack and Rex), his two sisters (Hildred Whittum and Patricia Rogers) and his grandson Sam Harkness.
He was a bright student and active in many extracurricular activities including student government and sports. He graduated from Olivet High School (in Olivet Michigan) in 1951. He attended Hillsdale College in 1951-52 where he had a partial scholarship and worked 40 to 60 hrs./week as a dispatcher. He transferred to Michigan State University, where he received B.S. (1955) and M.S. (1956) degrees in Mathematics and a PhD in Statistics in 1959. He also attended the University of Chicago in 1956 -57. In the summer 1957 he worked at the Institute for Air Weapons Research in Chicago.
After receiving his doctorate, he accepted an Assistant Professor appointment in Mathematics in 1959 at Penn State University, with his wife & his first two kids in tow. He was promoted to Associate Professor in 1961 and to Professor of Statistics in 1969. He became the Head of the Department in August 1969 and served as its head for 18+ years (until the end of 1987). He played an important role in the establishment of the department (July 1, 1968 with James Bartoo as Head) and was often referred to as its "Father" for his extensive involvement in its formation and long service as Head. He officially retired in 2002 but continued as a full-time member of the department without salary until 2014. In 2012 he wrote a 277-page book on "A History of the Department of Statistics at Penn State University"
Harkness was very active professionally. He was a member of the leading statistical societies and received many honors and awards. He was awarded the Carver Medal for his service to Institute of Mathematical Statistics (IMS) in 2007. Altogether he authored about 50 publications in statistical journals and supervised about the same number of Master and PhD degree students. He was a member of six honoraria and served as an officer in three. He was given the "Eberly College of Science Distinguished Service Award" in 2002 for his outstanding contributions to the college.
He served as a statistical consultant to the National Institute of Health (1973-1992), The Hershey Medical Center (1973-1988), the Tetley Tea Co. (1978), the College of Agriculture at PSU (197601996), and as a consultant and testified in a Federal Court Trial on a "Study of Policewomen Competency in the Performance of Sector Patrol Work in the City of Philadelphia".
His first love academically was statistical education. After his tenure as department head, he devoted full-time to teach and research in this area and received several awards for his contributions: a 'PSU Special Recognition Award with Barbara Grabowski (faculty member in the College of Education) for Collaborative Instructional and Curricular Innovation', ' Schreyer Institute Award for Innovation in Learning', 'Sland-C Award for Excellence in Online Cost Effectiveness' by the Pew Learning and Technology Program at the Center of Academic Transformation, the College of Science CI Noll 2010 Award for Excellence in Teaching, and an award for 'Best Departmental Educational Project in Reforming Courses'.
He found ways to make his classes engaging and once had his daughter Ginger bake 2 huge batches of chocolate chip cookies (one with 2x the number of chips as the other). Each student got a cookie from each batch and had to count the number of chips in each and do the analysis on the resulting data. He would have students get up to measure the circumference of their head and the length of their lower arm to find a striking correlation. For several of his 400-person Stat 200 classes, he invited them to lunch. He would take them 4-6 at a time and loved learning about them and observing how the groups views about the world evolved over time.
He wanted to be a better father than his own had been. He was popular at the Welsh Community Swimming pool with the neighborhood kids and would often join the family there for a swim before heading back to the office in the evenings when he was a young professor. He would get the family donuts on Sun mornings and make a giant pot of popcorn loaded with lots butter for Sunday dinner. He had a sweet tooth and was known to put strawberry jam on his hamburger.
He loved to make people laugh. His sense of humor was often embarrassing to his kids when they were young. He would ask the waiter if they really needed to give him the bill, he would ask the cashier if they would help weed his garden, he would say he was the President of the United States or PM of India in a silly voice when he called his family and close friends on the phone. He was well known and well loved by many people in his hometown State College. As he left his favorite place to eat for what was the last time, a couple called him over to their table to chat. It was the janitor from the office building he'd worked in several years earlier.
He was an avid gardener and landscaper at his 2.36 acre residence with about 750 trees on it. He hosted several departmental picnics for attendees at the Astrostatistics Short Course and other events. He named the property "Yildiz Park" in honor of his wife. She designed their house & was often outside with him weeding the many flower and vegetable beds. He wrote a second book in 2015 with 327 pages on 'My Family History'. He was an avid sports fan (attending almost all PSU football games from 1966 to 2012) and many PSU Women's basketball games. He was a coach for Little League baseball for several years and as an umpire for one year. He served as Co-President of the PTA for his children's elementary school.
A 'Celebration of Life' will be held on-line Feb 21, 2021 2-4pm EST.
Please register at the link provided & come prepared with your uplifting stories to share in a celebration of his time on this earth.
In lieu of flowers, please make donations to Feeding America by visiting:
Arrangements are under the care of Koch Funeral Home, State College. Online condolences and signing of the guest book may be entered at www.kochfuneralhome.com.
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