Dr. Harvey S. Piper Jr. was born in Duncansville, PA, in 1934 and graduated from Altoona High School in 1952. After serving three years in the U.S. Army as a radio repairman, he entered The Pennsylvania State University in September 1956 and was awarded the degree of Bachelor of Science, with distinction, in Engineering Science, 1960. He became a Member of the Technical Staff of Bell Telephone Laboratories and performed systems engineering on the T1 carrier system, the first Time Division Multiplex system. While at Bell Labs, he received the degree of Master of Electrical Engineering from New York University in June 1962.

In October 1963, he returned to Penn State and became a faculty member at the Applied Research Laboratory, conducting sponsored research on Underwater Weapons Systems. In December 1968, Penn State awarded him a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Electrical Engineering. While at ARL, he was assigned to the Office of Naval Research in Arlington, VA, for a period of approximately ten years, where he assisted in the management of the U.S. Navy Exploratory Development program for underwater weapons systems. In October 1998, after 35 years of service, he retired with the rank of Senior Research Associate.

While an undergraduate at Penn State, Dr. Piper married Joan Marie Hoffman of Liverpool, PA. They have three children, Beth Meier of Latrobe, PA; Tina Jay of Murfreesboro, TN; and Daniel Piper of State College, PA; and six grandchildren.

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