While 33 is the number of years William Harris worked at two UC national labs, now that he’s retiring, his number will be 37, as in 1937 Ford slantback sedan. Harris will be parking his vintage hotrod right next to his 2002 Chrysler Prowler, also no slouch on the pavement. Definitely, this will not be one of those “life in the slow lane” retirements.

Since he went to work at LLNL in 1971, Harris has spent his entire career in computer operations, and joined the NERSC Center staff in 1984 when it was known as the Magnetic Fusion Energy (MFE) Computer Center – and staffers were known as “muffies” When NERSC moved to Berkeley in 1996, Harris was one of the key LLNL employees who also made the move. He created the Computer Operations and Network Support Group, which he led until he retired on Jan. 30.

Computing Sciences has organized a fitting farewell, a barbecue lunch, from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 19, at the Oakland Scientific Facility. The cost is $20 per person – for more information contact Yeen Mankin at [email protected].

“We were extremely fortunate that William decided to make the transition, bringing with him his leadership skills, his technical expertise and his organizational knowledge,” said NERSC Center Division Director Horst Simon. “While we will miss him, his legacy of hiring and mentoring new employees will ensure this is another smooth transition for us.”

For Harris, coming to Berkeley was the right thing to do. “I wanted a change and this was an opportunity to start a center from scratch,” he said. “And the direction NERSC was heading was more in line with my career interests.”

Through careful planning, there was always one major computer system available to NERSC users while most of the equipment was moved from Livermore to Berkeley. Overall it took less than a week for the center to be fully back in service.

For Harris, the difference between LLNL and LBNL was the biggest change. Whereas the unclassified research site in Berkeley felt more open, building space on the Hill was much tighter. Also at Berkeley Lab, the NERSC Center is more involved in the big picture of conducting research to support DOE’s Office of Science.

Harris approached his work day the same way he approached running jobs on a computer. Over the course of a shift, he had 480 minutes of running time and had to figure out how to put it to the best job. Some days, it was best to multi-task, or handle a series of small jobs. Other times, working on a single large task was most productive.

Harris joined LLNL after eight years as a communications computer crypto specialist in the U.S. Air Force. Working in the classified Livermore Computing Center, Harris drew the “owl shift,” working from midnight to 8 a.m. with such equipment as CDC 6600 computers, the IBM 1800 punch card system, mammoth “high-speed” printers and FR80s – microfiche systems. Because they had days off, many of the shift employees took classes in computer science and management – then used their knowledge to train other shifts.

Over the years, Harris switched to the swing shift and became a supervisor, and while the technology changed – reels of tape were replaced with cartridges and the CDC machines gave way to Cray 1s and 2s, he retained his interest in career development and training – both for himself and his co-workers. “When you improve the overall skillsets of the staff, there is also an overall benefit to the Lab,” he said.

In looking back at his career, he said he’s proudest of his efforts to help employees at all levels by counseling, mentoring and supporting them in their educational efforts. One of his last tasks here was helping an employee qualify for financial aid to attend UC Davis.

“All I do is give them encouragement and the tools to get the job done,” Harris said.

But he didn’t just help employees. A frequent volunteer to help as a recruiter when LBNL goes to job fairs, Harris would also take the time to look over the resumes of applicants, make suggestions and, if the applicant’s weren’t exactly what LBNL was seeking, he would refer them to other places.

“I like people, I like working with people,” he said, “and good, open communication.” That attitude also helped him contribute as a member of the Lab’s Diversity Council for three years.

Harris also earned quite a reputation for his annual gumbo feeds, sometimes adding his famous tri-tip to the menu.

Now, though, he plans to take some time for himself. At the top of the list, or at least right after breakfasting on banana pancakes at the First St. Café in Pleasanton, is doing a number of home improvement projects. And when he’s had enough of those, he’ll hit the road in one of his hotrods. “One thing’s for sure – I’m going to a heck of a lot more car shows now.” And one of those is the annual Lab event, where Harris has been a regular the past few years.