Last week, I was awarded the Carroll G. Harper Prize.  In an effort to thank those that established the award, I reached out to the University, but unfortunately contact information has been lost to the sands of time.  In the stead of a thank you note, I thought I would provide the Internets some background on the award and the man for whom it is named.

Carroll G. Harper was a Manhattan lawyer.  He was born in Dyersburg, Tennessee, and did his undergraduate work at Vanderbilt University in Tennessee.  In 1952, he graduated from Columbia University School of Law.

Early in his career, Mr. Harper, while working as an associate for Byerly, Townsend, Watson & Churchill, is attributed with participation in a litigation over the Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer (ENIAC) patent, one of the earliest significant computer patents. His firm represented Sperry Rand Corporation, and he himself spent over 3000 hours on the case.

Mr. Harper, prior to his death, was a partner at Fitzpatrick, Cella, Harper & Scinto in New York.  He was also at one time the president of the Metropolitan Opera Club, and the national chairman of the Metropolitan Opera National Council’s regional audition program.

On June 28, 1982, Mr. Harper died at the New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center at the age of 53 years old.  He was survived by his wife, Jean S. Harper, and his mother, Vera Harper.

In 1983, a gift in Mr. Harper’s memory was made by his wife, friends, colleagues, and classmates.  The gift established the Carroll G. Harper Prize, which is awarded “annually to the member of the graduating class who has attained the highest standards of achievement in intellectual property studies and writing.”

Previous prize recipients include:

Columbia Law School, Intellectual Property