In Memoriam: Lela Maxine Harper, 1955-2013

Maxine Harper, a professor of special education and director of the Center for Educational Research and Evaluation at the University of Mississippi, has died from complications of pneumonia under hospice care at her home. She was 57 years old.

Professor Harper suffered from cerebral palsy and was confined to a motorized wheelchair but she did not let her disabilities get in the way of her academic career. David Rock, dean of education at the University of Mississippi, said “Maxine was probably one of the biggest inspirations anyone will ever meet in education. She persevered where so many would have given up and she showed us the real power of someone’s mind. Every time anyone ever told her she couldn’t do something, she went out and did it.”

Dr. Harper was the valedictorian of Pillow Academy in Greenwood, Mississippi, and went on to earn a bachelor’s degree at Delta State University in Cleveland, Mississippi, and a master’s degree in special education from Mississippi State University. After six years as a special education teacher, she returned to Delta State University to earn a doctorate in curriculum and supervision. She joined the faculty at the University of Mississippi in 2000. In 2009, she published her memoir Maxine Harper’s Journey of Hope (Lantern Publishing).