Max Beberman Award
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Rear Admiral Max Harnish and Parents Class of 1937
The
late Rear Admiral Max Harnish, University Laboratory High School Class of 1937;
MaxÕs step-mother, the late. Alice Harnish, who taught both Latin and
English at Uni; and MaxÕs father, the late Wilber Harnish, who taught Chemistry
and Physics at Uni and was head of the Uni Science Department from 1925 to 1955
were honored with the Beberman Award in 1997.
The
U.S. Navy awarded Max the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Air Medal and two Gold
Stars in lieu of the Second and Third Air Medals, and the Navy Unit Commendation
Medal with one star. He later was honored with some 20 other commendations,
including the Decorated Legion of Merit with two Gold Stars and the Korean
Presidential Unit Citation Medal
Max
assumed command of Fighter Squadron 21, operating in both the Atlantic and
Pacific Fleets with jet-fighter aircraft, in the early 1950s. In 1958, he
returned to the Navy Department for duty in the Special Projects Office, where
he served in the Plans Division for the development of the Polaris weapon
system.
In
1966, he became the Commanding Officer of the U.S.S. RANGER, during which time
the ship was involved in strikes against enemy forces in North Viet Nam. Harnish
was awarded the Legion of Merit, and his ship, The RANGER, was selected ÒShip
of the YearÓ by Our Navy magazine.
In September 1967, he became Director of the Office of Program Appraisal for the
U.S. Navy.
Following
his retirement, he worked with Bechtel, Inc., in San Francisco. He died on
September 19, 1979, following a short battle with cancer.
Alice
Harnish, who was 92 in 1997 when the award was presented, taught English at Uni
from 1929 to 1932 and Latin in 1960 and 1961.
She taught at many other schools, including Champaign Central, where she
was on the faculty from 1961 to 1971. She also taught rhetoric at the University
of Illinois.
The
late Wilber Harnish taught Science at Uni for some 20 years. He was born on a
farm near Carlisle, PA, in 1886. He attended a rural brick school for three or
four years and then a grade school in town for five years. When he finished 8th
grade, he decided to go to work at a wheel factory. After a year and a half, he
decided to return to school and by means of concentrated study was able to
complete high school in two and a half years and made plans to attend law
school, which he ultimately did not pursue.
From 1910, Wilber taught at several schools in Michigan and Illinois before coming to Uni in 1925. He completed some 15 units of graduate credit at the U of I, mostly in education but also in Physics and one in chemistry.