Please meet John Harrison, RSA Board Member
Hi, my name is John Harrison. I joined the RSA back in 2002 as a Masters student. I am currently an RSA Board Member & Trustee with responsibility for the Conference & Events portfolio, have been an editor of Regional Studies since 2013, and since 2006 have worked at Loughborough University in the UK.
But enough of that, who am I really?
I was born in Lancaster, England. My dad was a firefighter, my mum a primary school teacher, and my younger sister of two years is an architect.
I am married to Lianne and we have two children – Caitlin who loves to dance, and Jayden who loves football and is obsessed with dinosaurs.
We are a family of Spurs fans … well, except Lianne who once famously asked, if it ever came to it, who I would choose … her or Spurs? I’m not sure the dramatic pause is the answer she was looking for!
We are a household of geographers. Lianne is a fellow geographer and you should have seen Caitlin’s Geography teachers face when we told him we were both geographers. Thankfully, Caitlin loves Geography and her school report was good. Phew!
As geographers we are an outdoors family. Our favourite trips have definitely been to Borneo (honeymoon) and Lapland. Lapland was for the children, but Lianne was definitely just as excited to see Santa. We often go walking and camping in the UK and spent this summer walking around the Austrian alps for 2 weeks.
In my spare time, life revolves around sport, so when I’m not watching Spurs, I coach an Under 9’s football team, enjoy running, and golf when I can.
Favourite film: I’m a child of the 1980s so something like Top Gun / Top Gun Maverick
Favourite music: Bon Jovi (something Lianne and I share – Livin’ on a Prayer was our first dance!)
Favourite food: not fussy, Italian, Mexican, Indian for sure as anything with some spice is always a winner
Other random things … I’m that person who still wears shorts in the middle of winter … I’m not ambidextrous however I am left-handed, left-footed, play golf right-handed, and in cricket I bat and bowl right-handed but throw left-handed!