C. Michael Harper

Who is C. Michael Harper?

C. Michael Harper is a United States businessman who led ConAgra Foods from 1975 to 1993, growing the company by many acquisitions. He was born in Michigan, attended Purdue University as an undergraduate, and earned his MBA at the University of Chicago. During his tenure at ConAgra, sales rose from $636 million in 1974 to $9 billion in 1987. Some of the largest sales increases came in frozen-food and poultry.

In 2007, the Hyde Park campus of the University of Chicago Booth School of Business was renamed the Charles M. Harper Center after Harper made the then-largest donation in the school's history.