Gale Aileen Harrison

Dr. Gale Aileen Harrison passed away on July 4, 2023. She was born on December 3, 1945. She was preceded in death by her parents George and Mildred Harrison. She is survived by many cousins and friends.

A graveside service will be held at New Live Oak Cemetery in Selma, Alabama, on Friday, July 14, 2023, at 10:30 A.M. Rev. Jerry Henry of Fairhope, AL, will conduct the service.

Gale graduated from Selma High School in Selma, Alabama, in 1963. She graduated with honors from Agnes Scott College, a liberal arts women's college in Atlanta in 1967. She earned her PhD in Political Science from Vanderbilt University in Nashville in the early 1970s, the second woman to do so in Vanderbilt's history. She began her teaching career in the University System of Georgia, first in Rome at the former Floyd College, now Georgia Highlands. Here, each term, she taught American government to hundreds of students, many of whom were veterans returning from Vietnam who later became civic leaders. Gale was a respected leader in the Social Science Division and the college community projects. In the late 80s she joined the political science department at Georgia Southern College, now University, in Statesboro, Georgia where her specialties were the European Union and women in politics. She was a significant part of the lives of many students who rethought their roles as global citizens in her challenging, engaging classes. She was known for using contemporary film and guided conversations, and for her rapport with students of all political views.