Harry Bohan received the Bachelor of Science degree with a major in mathematics and minor in physical education at Sam Houston State University in 1960. He completed six years of teaching and coaching at the junior high and elementary school levels in Huntsville, using his summers to continue his education.

In 1962, he received the Master of Education degree at Sam Houston State in guidance and counseling. Five years later he was employed by the university as an assistant professor of education.
He was awarded the Ph.D. degree at the University of Michigan in curriculum and instruction with an emphasis in elementary mathematics in 1970.

Also that year, Bohan was named the recipient of the SHSU Excellence in Teaching Award.

Bohan was the third professor in Sam Houston State University's history to be named Distinguished Professor by The Texas State University System Board of Regents. He received that honor in 1993.

He has served as a contributing author, co-author or author of a number of math textbooks and curriculum guides, and has written numerous articles on issues dealing with math education. The two elementary mathematics textbooks he has co-authored have been used in virtually every state in the United States as well as locations in Europe, Central and South America, Puerto Rico and Thailand.

Bohan has also made presentations internationally on promoting mathematical thinking, discovering meaning in elementary school mathematics, making mathematics meaningful and applicable to real life, and getting a good start in mathematics.

Bohan is a true patriarch of a Sam Houston State University family. Bohan's wife, Grace, is a Sam Houston graduate, as are their four children and all their spouses. They include the late Paul Bohan and his wife, Susan; Peggy Bohan Shawaker and her husband, Kevin; Kelly Bohan Laskie and her husband, Wayne; and Matthew Bohan, and his wife, Kristy.

As profiled at the October 25, 2002 Distinguished Alumni Banquet