Mark Walrod Harrington

{{Short description|American scientist (1848–1926)}}

{{Infobox officeholder

| name = Mark Walrod Harrington

| image =Mark Walrod Harrington.jpg

| caption =

| alt =

| order = 33rd

| office = President of the University of Washington

| term_start =1895

| term_end = 1897

| predecessor = Thomas Milton Gatch

| successor = William Franklin Edwards

| birth_name =

| birth_date = {{birth date|1848|08|18}}

| birth_place = Sycamore, Illinois, U.S.

| death_date = {{death date and age|1926|09|10|1848|08|18}}

| death_place =

| death_cause =

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| citizenship =

| nationality = American

| module = {{infobox scientist

| child = yes

| fields =

| workplaces = University of Michigan

}}

| alma_mater =

}}

Mark Walrod Harrington (August 18, 1848 – September 10, 1926) was an American scientist who studied and published works in multiple disciplines, including botany,{{Cite book |last=Harrington |first=Mark W. |url=https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/001999203 |title=The Analysis of Plants: Intended for Schools And Colleges And for the Independent Botanical Student |date= |website= |publisher=Sheehan & Co. |year=1876 |language=en |access-date=2022-07-09}}{{Cite book |last=Harrington |first=M. W. |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015061199975&view=page&seq=5&skin=2021 |title=The Tropical Ferns Collected by Professor Steere in the years 1870-75 |date=1878 |website= |language=en |access-date=2022-07-09}} astronomy,{{Cite book |last=Dziobeck |first=Otto |url=https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/009259430 |title=Mathematical Theories of Planetary Motions |date=1892 |website= |publisher=The Register Pub. Co. |language=en |translator-last=Harrington |translator-first=Mark W. |access-date=2022-07-09}} meteorology,{{Cite book |last=Harrington |first=Mark W. |url=https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/001998090 |title=About the weather |date=1901 |publisher=Appleton |series=Appleton's home reading books |location=New York}}{{Cite book |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.hx752h&view=page&seq=7&skin=2021 |title=Rainfall and Snow of the United States, Compiled to the End of 1891, with Annual, Seasonal, Monthly, and Other Charts |date= |website= |publisher=U.S. Weather Bureau |year=1894 |series=United States. Weather Bureau. BulletinC |language=en |access-date=2022-07-09}} and geology. He was the first chief of the United States Weather Bureau,{{Cite web |title=Prof. Mark W. Harrington (NWS Timeline) |url=https://vlab.noaa.gov/web/nws-heritage/explore-nws-history#event-prof-mark-w-harrington |access-date=December 15, 2024 |website=National Weather Service Heritage}} and later served as president of the University of Washington.{{Cite web |title=Mark Walrod Harrington, 1895-97 — UW Libraries |url=https://www.lib.washington.edu/specialcollections/collections/exhibits/presidents/images/mark-walrod-harrington-1895-97/view |access-date=2022-03-20 |website=www.lib.washington.edu}} Considered a prominent scientist in the late 19th century, he knew a half-dozen languages.{{Cite web |title=The Fault in His Stars {{!}} Bentley Historical Library |url=https://bentley.umich.edu/news-events/magazine/the-fault-in-his-stars/ |access-date=2022-03-20 |language=en}} His academic achievements were overshadowed, however, by his disappearance in 1899, when he left home one day and was not heard from for many years. His wife and son located him in 1908 at a psychiatric hospital in New Jersey where he had been admitted as patient John Doe No. 8.{{Cite web |title=Image 14 of New-York tribune (New York [N.Y.]), November 14, 1908 |url=https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn83030214/1908-11-14/ed-1/?sp=14&st=image&r=0.096,0.691,0.575,0.346,0 |access-date=2022-07-09 |website=Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA}}