| Abstract: | Presents an obituary for Mary Starke Harper, a leading authority on mental health care for minorities and the aged. Harper earned a bachelor's degree in education and a master's degree in nursing education with a psychiatric nursing clinical specialty. She moved unpretentiously among the politically influential, showing tireless drive and tenacity on behalf of her causes. She served as an advisor on mental health and aging for Presidents Carter, Reagan, G. H. W. Bush, and Clinton; directed the Office of Policy Development and Research for the 1981 White House Conference on Aging; served as a consultant for the 1995 White House Conference on Aging; and cochaired the Clinton administration's Mental Health/Public Sector Task Force for Healthcare Reform. After formal retirement in 1995, she remained an active, outspoken advocate for improved mental health care for minorities and the aged. She served as an expert adviser on women's health for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, a member of the National Institute of Aging's National Advisory Council, a state of Alabama trustee on mental health, and a consultant or member of the board of directors for a wide array of other organizations, foundations, and universities. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved) |
