Harry was born in Japan and immigrated to the US at the age of 7, growing up in northern New Hampshire. For his advanced education Harry spent time in Connecticut, North Carolina, Alabama, and Arizona.  Harry has lived in Ohio for over 30 years, teaching biology at Kenyon College. Harry gained administrative experiences as chair of the Biology Department and the Department of Neuroscience, chair of various faculty committees and administrator for several research grants. Harry just retired last summer after 31 years at Kenyon.

As for Harry’s personal life, he has been married to Lisa Gichner, a pediatrician, for over 35 years. They have twin daughters, both married, one who lives in Silicon Valley, the other in southern Connecticut. They have had a series of small dogs, and he says “each of whom has more or less run our lives.” When Harry started to work at Kenyon, they lived for two years in the McIlvaine apartments in Gambier, then moved to Worthington for Lisa’s work. Harry commuted from Worthington for the next 28+ years until he and Lisa moved back to Gambier in early 2021 as they transitioned to retirement in the middle of the pandemic.

Harry is interested in conservation issues in general, and in preserving Knox County land in particular, as he is a firm believer in the adage, “think globally and act locally.” To that end, Harry and Lisa belong to The Nature Conservancy, the Sierra Club, the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Owl Creek Conservancy.