In Memoriam: Katherine Hodges Harper

Katherine Hodges Harper, a well-known leader in the printing industry and the first female chairman of the Foundation of the Flexographic Technical Association International Forum as well as the first female to chair a TAPPI International Conference, passed away May 3. Mrs. Harper, 80, and late husband Ron Harper raised a family of five children and spent nearly 40 years of their married life working together in the printing industry. In 1971 they founded their own manufacturing company, Harper Corp. of America, with manufacturing facilities in Charlotte, N.C., and DePere, Wis., as well as a licensee in Bangkok, Thailand (Harper/Asia Pacific) in which Katherine was president for 36 years until her retirement in 2006. Katherine and Ron formed a joint venture (Harper/Love Adhesives Corp.) with N.B. Love Adhesives (Australia) as well as Harper Machinery Corp. (which they sold in 1989).  

Mrs. Harper leaves a legacy of business success and extensive philanthropy.  During her career, she served on, and led, many boards and committees in flexographic technical associations—often as the first woman to do so. The Business Journal recognized her as Business Woman of the Year in 1999. She also has worked extensively in government. North Carolina Gov. Jim Hunt appointed her to the N.C. Banking Commission (1983-1985), the N.C. Advisory Board for Workforce Development (1990-1992), and the N.C. Small Business Council (1993-1997). The U.S. Secretary of Commerce appointed Mrs. Harper to the U.S. Export Council of North Carolina (1995-2000), and she received the Governor's Excellence in Workforce Development Award in 1995. Mrs. Harper served as Gov. Jim Hunt's Mecklenburg County Finance Chair for his Senate campaign in 1984, and ran for the U.S. Senate herself in 1986.

Mrs. Harper's dedication to philanthropy, particularly in flexo education, made her truly legendary, as evidenced by the myriad of institutions and endowments that bear her name: Central Piedmont Community College (CPCC) is home to a Harper Campus and the Harper National Flexographic Center. The college also manages a Ron and Katherine Harper Scholarship Fund. Appalachian State University in Boone is home to Katherine Harper Hall and the Harper Flexographic Museum. The Flexo Trade School in Fort Mill, S.C., boasts a state-of-the-art Harper Lab of Flexography. DiTrolio Flexographic Institute in Chicago, features the Ron and Katherine Harper Flexo Lab.

Other enduring testaments to Mrs. Harper's generosity are the Harper Endowment at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, Calif., the Harper Scholarship Fund and the Harper Flexo Technology Wing at Fox Valley Technical College in Appleton, Wis., and the Ron and Katherine Harper Scholarship Fund and Harper Center of Graphics Technology at Dunwoody College of Technology in Minneapolis, Minn. The Phoenix Challenge Foundation offers a Katherine Harper Teacher's Education Fund. The Foundation of the Flexographic Technical Association in Ronkonkoma, N.Y., also offers a Ron & Katherine Harper Scholarship. In 2007, Mr. and Mrs. Harper became the founding sponsors of the FTA Technical Education Services Team (TEST) program, an extensive industry educational initiative.

 Mrs. Harper was a board member of the Appalachian State University Foundation as well as the Central Piedmont Community College Foundation. CPCC honored her with the Ben Franklin Award in 1996, and three years later, she won the Flexographic Technical Association's (FTA) President's Award. In October 2007, Appalachian State University`s Chancellor, Ken Peacock, bestowed honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters degrees upon both Mr. and Mrs. Harper.