Charles H. Harper

Chuck Harper joined the Foundation Board in 2010

Harper earned his bachelor’s degree in fine art and mathematics from Northwestern in 1970 and MBA with distinction from Harvard Business School in 1979. While an undergraduate at Northwestern, he was the Assistant to Jack Burnham for The Structure of Art.

After Northwestern, he worked in computer technical and management positions and led the Distribution Task Force for Pepsico. After Harvard, he worked as a management consultant for McKinsey & Co. In 1982, he joined Advanced Systems, Inc. in the Office of the President leading strategic planning and then as the managing director of product development.

In 1990, he founded Harper Insights, Inc., and consulted in IT management to Fortune 500 Companies and money management to individuals. Since 1970, he served on the board and more recently as vice president of Harper Hotels, Inc.

Harper currently serves on the board of Art Encounter, which provides arts education to Chicago inner-city schools. He also serves as co-chair of the Fund Raising Committee for the David Owsley Museum of Art at Ball State University. He is on Acquisition Committees at both the Owsley Museum of Art and The Art Institute of Chicago.

Harper is the great-grandson of Frank C. Ball, a founder of Ball State University. He lives with his wife, Kathy, in Winnetka, IL, while their children Adam, Matthew, and Emily live in Boston, Portland, OR, and New York.