Nathan E. Harrison, EdD
Teacher, Administrator, Researcher, Advocate, Father, & Husband
Short Biography
Dr. Nathan Harrison is the husband to Mackenzie and father to Henry and Lucy. He is a lecturer in the MSSE program at the Rochester Institute of Technology in Rochester, NY, and focuses on digital teaching and learning, Deaf/Hard of Hearing pedagogy, bilingual instruction, and Deaf Educational Leadership. He has been a director/principal (EDS, Springville, UT), curriculum director (USD), assistant director (JMS, Salt Lake City, UT), assistant principal and math teacher (NMSD, Santa Fe, NM).
Prior to becoming a teacher, Nathan was born and raised in Vernal, UT, and attended Utah State University to become a teacher. There, he took his first ASL class and “became hearing” when the beauty and existence of the DeafWorld was opened up to him. Feeling the call to become a part of the Deaf Community as a teacher, Nathan completed his bachelor’s degree in math & science education and journeyed on to the Bi-Bi Deaf Education master’s program.
Nathan began his professional career at the New Mexico School for the Deaf in Santa Fe, NM, as a secondary mathematics teacher. During that time, he began his Doctorate degree in Educational Leadership at the University of New Mexico. After six years in the classroom, Nathan was promoted to Assistant Principal at NMSD.
Nathan then left NMSD in 2017 to serve as Assistant Director of the Jean Massieu School of the Deaf, a campus program of the Utah Schools for the Deaf and Blind in Salt Lake City, UT. He worked to spearhead initiatives for school improvement, personalized learning, Culturally Sustaining Deaf Pedagogy, and Deaf-focused learning strategies. During this time, he completed his doctorate.
In 2021, Dr. Harrison changed roles to become the Curriculum Director for the Utah School for the Deaf, supporting the divisions in the Deaf school for curriculum, instruction, staff development, transition programming, and training.
In 2023, Dr. Harrison was asked to helm the Elizabeth DeLong School of the Deaf, a campus program of the Utah Schools for the Deaf and Blind in Springville, UT. He worked to increase bilingual instruction, enrich language planning for students, and improve outcomes for all students across age groups. He led the expansion of the school to expand to include a middle school during the 2024-2025 school year. He was especially proud of his work to add to the culture of the school by emphasizing the mascot and associated PBIS.
In 2024, Dr. Harrison left the PK-12 world to become a lecturer in the MSSE program at RIT, which he had been an adjunct for previously. His work focuses on educator preparation in ASL/English and working to establish a Deaf Educational Leadership program under the MSSE umbrella.