ROBERT B. HARPER
The New Pittsburgh Courier has learned that Robert B. Harper, Professor Emeritus of Law at the University of Pittsburgh, died on Oct. 12. He was 82.
Harper, a product of Pittsburgh Public Schools, was the first African American tenured law professor at Pitt. He also served as dean of students at the university’s school of law.
The son of the late Frank P. Harper and Oneida Grigsby Harper, Robert B. Harper grew up on Webster Avenue in the Hill District. He graduated from Fifth Avenue High School in 1958, then earned a bachelor’s degree in education at Pitt. He then joined the United States Army, became an officer and served in Korea. After his discharge, Robert B. Harper returned to Pittsburgh and taught math in Pittsburgh Public Schools.
ROBERT B. HARPER, as a member of the U.S. Army.
Harper went on to attend law school at the University of Pittsburgh, graduating in 1971 and became the police legal adviser for the City of Pittsburgh. He left that job to become dean of students at Pitt’s school of law and later became the first Black tenured full-time professor.
As a young adult, Harper was active in Christian Tabernacle Church and most recently at Mt. Ararat Baptist Church’s “Saturday Night Live” service. His hobbies related to reading, writing, and traveling the world.
Harper, according to his brother, Henry, will be remembered as the patriarch of the Harper Family. He loved the Lord and attempted to follow His teachings. Robert B. Harper was preceded in death by sisters Gwendolyn Chapman, Natalie Tomlin, Margaret Harper, Barbara Harper Burns, Bernice Lancaster and brothers Frank Jr, James, Oliver, Theodore, George, Gerald, Harry, and Donald Harper, John Hairston, and Nathaniel Hairston. He is survived by his brother Henry (Yvonne), his best friend since high school Richard Lee M.D., and a host of beloved family members, friends, colleagues and former students in Pittsburgh and across the country.
A public memorial service will be held in Pittsburgh in late March 2022.
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