This award is open
to faculty, staff, and alumni of The Evergreen State College.
The interrelationship of art and science has produced objects
and ideas of enduring meaning and beauty: Gray's Anatomy, British
Admiralty charts of the 18th and 19th centuries, the exciting
mix of natural history, art, society and science accompanying
the Enlightenment and Industrial Revolution, Audubon's prints,
Clarke's and Dick's science fiction, Kraftwerk's music. The digital
age has seen the intimate linking of science coupled with visual,
aural and musical exposition. The generosity of Young Harvill
(B.A., Evergreen 1976; M.F.A., Stanford 1985) makes possible
an annual award of $5,000 to explore the intersections of art
and science through the visual arts, literature, multimedia,
dance, theater and any other compelling media including those
emerging from the hard sciences.The award is in memory of Young's
father. Tom Rye Harvill was born in Centerville, Tennessee in
1915. His family left Tennessee when his mother died in childbirth;
he was 4. He lived on his Grandfather's farm in Madison County,
Mississippi until he was 6. His father, Grover Harvill, moved
the family to Newellton, Louisiana, where Tom spent most of his
boyhood.Tom developed an interest in electronics, radio, astronomy,
and poetry. After attending law school at LSU for a couple of
years, he returned home to help his family in the depression
years. He enlisted in the armed services at the start of World
War II and served with the Signal Corps in the Philippines. After
the war, while still in the Signal Corps, he worked on early
prototypes of mobile radio teletypes.He moved to Salt Lake City
after the war to take a job at Packard Motor Company. He met
and married Lorna Young in 1950. He continued his interest in
radio by tinkering with ham radio.In
1957, after continued study in electronics, Tom joined Univac,
a company developing the first commercial computer. He was a
field engineer and computer operator.He joined General Electric's
computing group in 1961, working as an electronics engineer and
as a technical writer. He also wrote poetry.Tom read a lot, did
a lot, and was a great at synthesizing big concepts from detail.
He used this in his poetry, and in day-to-day conversation. He
was great to talk with because he was always engaged and interested
in some new connection, some new way of looking at the world.Tom
Harvill died in 1997.