Sandra Harper

Background

About Sandra Harper

Dr. Sandra Harper, a native of Dallas, Texas, began serving as the President of McMurry University on October 1, 2013. Prior to her McMurry appointment, Dr. Harper served as the President of Our Lady of the Lake College in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, the Provost and VPAA and Professor of Communication at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, the VPAA at Oklahoma City University, and as the Dean of the College of A&S at McMurry. Harper served as a faculty member in the communication and theater department at McMurry from 1985-1995. Harper received her B.S. from Texas Tech and her M.S. and Ph.D. from the University of North Texas. Harper also completed the Harvard Management Development Program and the Governor’s Executive Development Program at the LBJ School of Public Affairs at The University of Texas. Dr. Harper is a member of the Board of Trustees of the SACS Commission on Colleges and serves as one of the chairs of the Compliance and Reports Committees. She is the chair of the Independent Colleges and Universities of Texas (ICUT). She also serves on the boards of the National Association of Schools and Colleges of The United Methodist Church, the Abilene Chamber of Commerce, the Abilene Industrial Foundation, the Educator Insurance and Investors Association, the Serenity Foundation, and the Grace Museum. In 2011, Harper was named a Distinguished Alumna by the Texas Tech College of Education. She is listed in Who’s Who in America, Who’s Who of American Women, and Who’s Who in American Education. Harper has received the AAUW Abilene Branch Women of Outstanding Achievement Award, the Management Excellence Award from the Society for the Advancement of Management, the Y Women in Careers Award from the Corpus Christi YWCA, and the Outstanding Faculty Award and the Outstanding Administrator Award from McMurry.