{"id":62827,"date":"2024-11-06T08:45:34","date_gmt":"2024-11-06T13:45:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/?p=62827"},"modified":"2024-11-13T11:17:59","modified_gmt":"2024-11-13T16:17:59","slug":"leading-with-purpose-dr-john-harbisons-commitment-to-service-learning-and-leadership","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/2024\/11\/leading-with-purpose-dr-john-harbisons-commitment-to-service-learning-and-leadership\/","title":{"rendered":"Leading with purpose: Dr. John Harbison\u2019s commitment to service, learning and leadership"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Dr.

Dr. John Harbison, who spent 22 years in the U.S. Army, will be the keynote speaker at the University’s annual Veterans Day Luncheon. Photo by Angela Foster.<\/p><\/div>\n

Shortly after graduating from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in 1979 with a bachelor\u2019s degree in engineering management, Dr. John Harbison\u2014now a professor of practice for the Learning and Leadership programs at UTC\u2014joined the U.S. Army to pursue a career steeped in leading and learning.<\/p>\n

He spent 22 years as an Army officer, rising from second lieutenant to lieutenant colonel while holding various command and staff roles both in the U.S. and abroad. These experiences not only defined his military career but also shaped his leadership philosophy and approach to life, forming the cornerstone of the real-world knowledge he now brings into the classroom.<\/p>\n

\u201cValues were really drilled into me, putting my soldiers before myself, and that\u2019s hard when you\u2019re standing out in the cold snow in Germany and there might be one biscuit\u2014 for lack of a better term\u2014left, but I can\u2019t have that before my soldiers do,\u201d he explained. \u201cThe soldiers came first; we always ate last as officers.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I got out of the military, I took those same skills with me into the civilian sector.\u201d<\/p>\n

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On Monday, Nov. 11, Dr. John Harbison will be the keynote speaker at UTC\u2019s annual Veterans Day Luncheon, a celebration of the veterans and military-affiliated students, faculty and staff at the University.<\/em><\/p>\n

At the beginning of the 2024-2025 academic year, approximately <\/em>1,160 <\/em>veterans, military-affiliated students, spouses and dependents of veterans were enrolled at UTC.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Growing up, Harbison dreamed of serving as an officer in the U.S. Army.<\/p>\n

He had five uncles who served during World War II, \u201cfrom the very beginning all the way up through the occupation of Japan,\u201d he recalled, including one family member who had been with Gen. George Patton in North Africa, Italy and Normandy.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome of the things you see on TV and in shows had me thinking, \u2018Hey, that\u2019s kind of cool. I\u2019d like to do that,\u2019\u201d Harbison explained.<\/p>\n

He graduated with Latin honors from UTC in May 1979 and was commissioned as a Regular Army second lieutenant, reporting to the Army Field Artillery Basic Officer Course in Fort Sill, Oklahoma. Five months later, he was on his way to Germany.<\/p>\n

The dream had come true.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe plan in my mind was to stay at least 20 years; that was the intent,\u201d he said. \u201cLooking back, I didn\u2019t really know what I was getting into, but it was the best thing that had happened to me because I was able to grow and develop skills like grit, perseverance, loyalty, honesty, integrity. All those things were really drilled into me and helped make me successful.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs you can see, I\u2019m a big guy and I have always been an introvert. Being 6-foot-5 and almost 300 pounds, I stand out in a crowd \u2026 so it was odd that I did choose to go into the Army because it put me into a lot of uncomfortable situations. I had to learn a lot of skills.\u201d<\/p>\n

During his Army career, Harbison served three tours in Germany and\u2014in 1989\u2014found time to complete his Master of Industrial Technology at Western Carolina University. His last assignment as an artillery officer was in the Pentagon, where he oversaw three training centers in the U.S. and Europe.<\/p>\n

Reflecting on his time in Germany\u2014as a battery executive officer with the 11th Armored Calvary Regiment in Bad Kissingen; as brigade fire support observer\/trainer in Hohenfels; as operations officer with the 6th Battalion, 1st Field Artillery in Vilseck; and as branch chief of the NATO\/Partnership for Peace exercise branch in Stuttgart\u2014Harbison learned many of the leadership lessons that have stuck with him throughout his life.<\/p>\n

\u201cProbably one of the best assignments I had was towards the latter part of my career,\u201d he recalled. \u201cI was in Stuttgart, Germany, and I worked for U.S. European Command. It was a joint assignment where I worked with two Navy pilots, two Air Force individuals, a Marine, then myself and another Army officer. We coordinated training exercises with other nations.\u201d<\/p>\n

He worked directly with personnel from Poland, Ukraine, Russia and the Czech Republic.<\/p>\n

\u201cPart of it was a program called Partnership for Peace, which was with the former Warsaw Pact countries,\u201d he continued. \u201cWe were assigned to those countries and we would coordinate training exercises with them. The intent was to get them to be more connected with the U.S.\u201d<\/p>\n

His time in Germany stands out not only because of his military service but because it is where he met his wife, Marion, in 1980\u2014when Harbison was stationed in Bad Kissingen, a regiment post along the then-East German border. They were married in 1982, continuing their shared journey as he moved through assignments in the U.S. and Europe.<\/p>\n

\"Marion

Marion and John Harbison are celebrating their 42nd anniversary in 2024.<\/p><\/div>\n

One of the most significant moments of Harbison\u2019s story is how the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attack affected him.<\/p>\n

Harbison had retired from the Army one year earlier to take care of his terminally ill mother, Lois. In doing so, he was transitioning back to Chattanooga and \u201cthe civilian world.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI had just started working for Cigna Healthcare in August of 2001,\u201d he said, \u201cand I\u2019m in this world of civilians that I was still not comfortable with when 9\/11 happened.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m thinking, \u2018What am I doing here? I should be back in the Pentagon helping and doing something.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

As he watched the events unfold, Harbison received a phone call from his mother that helped put things in perspective for him.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe told me, \u2018You know why God made my cancer come back? To get you out of the Pentagon.\u201d Hearing that, he said, \u201cwas pretty powerful.\u201d She passed away in 2002, \u201cand I had two good years with her.\u201d<\/p>\n

Harbison soon found out that the plane that crashed into the Pentagon \u201cbasically went over where my desk was on the first floor. Of course, I was watching to see if I knew anybody that had died. The good news was that portion of the Pentagon had been pretty much emptied for renovation, so most of my friends had moved over to another wedge.\u201d<\/p>\n

He also learned that a general he had briefed in 2000, Lieutenant General Timothy Joseph Maude, had been killed.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe general, he was the highest ranking individual that died in the attack,\u201d Harbison said. \u201cRight before I retired \u2026 I briefed him on the programs that I managed, sitting basically just across the desk just like we are here.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Photos

Photos courtesy of Dr. John Harbison<\/p><\/div>\n

After retiring from the Army, Harbison took on new challenges in the civilian world at Cigna Healthcare, but the transition wasn\u2019t easy.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t know anything about insurance. I had been in the Army; we didn\u2019t need insurance,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

However, Harbison said he leaned on his military training\u2014specifically his leadership skills\u2014to succeed in the corporate world.<\/p>\n

\u201cI told them, \u2018My strengths are work ethic, dedication, mission focus, written communication skills … influencing others towards a common goal,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n

His success in the corporate sector allowed him to follow his passion for education, leading him back to UTC to pursue his doctoral degree in Learning and Leadership\u2014which he obtained in 2016.<\/p>\n

In 2018, he joined the University faculty\u2014first as a lecturer and then as a professor of practice\u2014drawing on both his military and corporate experiences to teach his students about leadership.<\/p>\n

Harbison said he takes pride in bringing real-world insight into the classroom.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can sit and read theories all day long, and if you don\u2019t understand them or can\u2019t see how they\u2019re applied, it may not resonate with you\u2014and that\u2019s my role,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m able to reach into my military as well as my civilian world experiences.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Army, he said, taught him about \u201cvalues, confidence, mission focus, flexibility. I call it stick-to-it-edness. Don\u2019t accept defeat. Make lemonade out of lemons.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now, as he prepares to give the keynote address for the Veterans Day Luncheon, Harbison is modest about the honor.<\/p>\n

\u201cPart of me is like, \u2018Why me?\u2019 When I was in the Army, if a general knew your name, that was usually not a good thing,\u201d Harbison joked.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut it\u2019s very humbling to be asked to speak at this event by the Chancellor\u2019s Office. I appreciate the tip of the hat.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dr. John Harbison\u2019s military service summary<\/h4>\n

Graduate:<\/strong><\/p>\n