Faculty/Staff Directory
Faculty/Staff Directory
First Name
Chris
Last Name
Harper
Email
harpechr@gvsu.edu
Title
Assistant Professor
Office
3024 L. William Seidman Center
Phone
616-331-7384
Department
- School of Accounting
Expertise
- Financial Statement Auditing and Attestation
- Family Owned Business
- CPA Firm Management
Biography
Chris is a CPA with the heart of a teacher. He earned his bachelor of business administration in accounting from Grand Valley State University, and his master of business administration from Michigan State University. Chris has taught a variety of undergraduate and graduate accounting courses at GVSU since 2005. He received the Outstanding Accounting Professor award from GVSUs Beta Alpha Psi chapter for both the 2013-2014 and 2015-2016 academic years, and was nominated for the GVSU Alumni Associations Outstanding Educator Award in both 2017 and 2018.
A frequent speaker, Chris has taught numerous continuing education courses for several state CPA societies. He frequently conducts interviews with media outlets on a variety of financial, tax, and accounting topics. Chris is an instrument-rated commercial pilot who enjoys traveling in his airplane as well as running, bicycling, camping, and spending time with his wife, Sarah, their daughter, Brooke and their son, Blake.
Education
- MBA, Michigan State University. (2002).
- BBA, Grand Valley State University. (1999).
Teaching Areas
- Financial Accounting
- Managerial Accounting
- Auditing
- Accounting for Managers
- Accounting for Executives
Publications
- Harper, C. (2019). Leaping from the Office to Academia. Strategic Finance.
- Harper, C., Dunn, C. (2018). Building Better Accounting Curricula. Strategic Finance.
- Harper, C., Sullivan, T. (2014). Year-end Tax Planning with a Crystal Ball. Grand Rapids Business Journal.
Service
Memberships, Licenses, and Certifications
- Member, American Institute of Certified Public Accountants
- Member, Michigan Association of Certified Public Accountants
- Member, Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association
- Certified Public Accountant, Michigan (2001 - present)
- Commercial Airplane Pilot License (2004 present)
Service
- Wings of Mercy, board member and volunteer pilot (2013 -present)
- Regularly-scheduled financial expert on WZZM-TV (120 television appearances since 2011)
- Frequent guest interviewee on WOOD-AM/FM (2016 present)
- Frequent instructor of continuing education courses for CPAs (2009 present)
- GVSU University Writing Skills Committee, member (2017 present)
- GVSU Introductory Accounting Task Force, member (2018 present)
- GVSU Classroom Observation Task Force, member (2018 present)
- GVSU Freshman Orientation and First-year Advising, advisor (2017 present)
- GVSU School of Accounting Data Analytics Committee, member (2017 2018)
- GVSU Beta Alpha Psi, student organization advisor (2015 2018)
- MICPA Accounting & Auditing Symposium Task Force, vice-chair (2015 2019)
- GVSU Sigma Phi Epsilon, student organization advisor (2015 2017)
- GVSU Community College Engagement Task Force, member (2017 2018)
- GVSU Inclusive Excellence Teaching Institute, member (2018)
- GVSU Commencement Platform Marshal (April 2017 and April 2018)
- GVSU School of Accounting AACSB Assurance-of-learning Task Force, member (2017 2018)
- GVSU Economics Faculty Search Committee, member (2018).