Thomas Frank Wyndham
TFW Harris [August 1916 — June 2012]
Known to all as "Sandy", and as "Prof" at Leigh Marine Laboratory for his title of Visiting Professor at Auckland University, Thomas Frank Wyndham Harris was behind much science we now take for granted, especially in the field of physical oceanography. He was treasured by students for his guidance, and admired by academics for unique analytical skills.
During Sandy’s funeral, Dr Bill Ballantine (former head of the University’s Leigh Marine Laboratory) covered these points and Sandy's time at Rhodes & Cambridge Universities, saying Sandy was an environmentalist before the term was even known.
Among achievements in several countries, Sandy attained a PhD in South Africa through the University of Natal for his work uncovering the dynamics of rip currents. While a lecturer in the Dept of Oceanography at the University of Cape Town (UCT), he wrote papers on the strong and important Agulhas Current, including his findings on its source, meanders and its return current.
It is not surprising that, with a great interest in photographs of the earth from space, Sandy was the first to organize satellite imagery for sea surface temperatures off the African coastline. This arose from contacts he made when visiting NASA, and marked the start of infrared satellite monitoring of South African surface ocean temperatures. After about a decade at UCT, he was awarded the title of Associate Professor.
A former UCT student of Sandy’s, the Director of the Nansen-Tutu Centre (at UCT's Dept of Oceanography) visited him in Leigh this past February (2012), and writes the following:
"[Sandy] was not given to boasting about his achievements: sporting or scientific. He was a very modest man, a complete gentleman who never spoke ill of anyone. I, for one, owe him a huge debt of gratitude for getting me into Oceanography, bringing me to Cape Town, and kick-starting my career at UCT! It was always a pleasure chatting to him, and I think it is amazing how sharp he was when we saw him last. I will continue to think highly of him."
Sandy's public sharing of science followed the rigorous route of publishing new findings in science papers and joint featuring in review papers, and culminated in substantial publications notably in his “retired years” eg “Greater Cook Strait — Form and Flow”, “The South Indian Ocean — Aspects of its Exploration, Form and Flow”, and in Western Australia “The Avon, an Introduction”. His publications continue to be admired, set for students, and sought after by ocean users.
He goes down in history as a remarkable unassuming achiever, a popular but private man, and a resolute carer of his family. To quote a UK relative that knew him well, especially during World War II when he was one of Churchill’s particularly trusted young and able minds defending Britain’s coastline, "there is simply no replacement".
TFW Harris in 1937 as Captain of the Rhodes University College Squash Racquets team. He graduated that year with a BSc (Chemistry and Physics with Maths, with a first class in Chemistry). He also played for the Rhodes first eleven cricket team and was Chairman of the SRC. Before leaving to further his studies at Cambridge towards the end of 1938, he worked as an academic member of staff in the Rhodes Chemistry Department.
Article written about Prof Harris by his daughter Sue Harris
