At the inception of her career in 1965, Shirley Fay Harper excelled as a director of dietetics at Logan County Hospital in Russellville, Kentucky, for 15 years. Taking a three-year hiatus, she then served Western State Hospital in Hopkinsville, Kentucky, as a consultant for one year before being promoted to institutional dietetic administrator from 1984 to 1988. For the following two years, she was a dietitian at the Rivendell Children’s Psychiatric Hospital in Bowling Green, Kentucky. In the latter stages of her career, she flourished as an instructor of nutrition at Western Kentucky University from 1990 to 1992 and as a nutrition instructor at Madisonville Community College from 1995 to 1998.
Other vocational endeavors to Ms. Harper’s credit have included positions at Covington’s Convalescent Center, Trigg County Personal Care Home, Gainsville Manor, Westlake Regional Hospital, Sparks Nursing Home and Belle Meade Home. Furthermore, she was distinguished at the Morgantown Care and Rehabilitation Center, Lakeview Health Care Center, Franklin-Simpson Memorial Hospital, Russellville Health Care Manor and Muhlenberg Community Hospital, among other locations. For nearly 20 years, she was a consultant to Auburn Health Care between 1976 and 1995.
Civically involved as well, Ms. Harper has served as vice chair of the American Red Cross of Logan County since 1997 and has been a member of the board of directors with United Way of Logan County and the American Red Cross since 1993. Prior, she was a delegate to the 24th International Congress on Arts and Communications at the University of Oxford in England in 1997, an advisor for the Human Rights Council from 1994 to 2000 and co-chair of the Council for Developmental Disabilities and Life Skills from 1992 to 1993. Furthermore, she was involved in the “Let’s Build Our Future” campaign.
Among the notable achievements of her career, Ms. Harper is particularly proud of her publication on meal and oral antibiotic interference, which was referenced in Powers’ “Food and Drug Handbook.” She has also been recognized with myriad other accolades, including the Outstanding Alumni Award from the Beta Delta alumni chapter of Phi Upsilon Omicron, the Award of Excellence from the University of Oxford in England, the President’s Award from the American Red Cross of Logan County and the World Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Biographical Institute. Earlier in her career, she earned the Outstanding Service Award from the American Dietetic Association Foundation and the Service Appreciation Award from the ARC of Logan-Russellville. She was also granted an Outstanding Dietitian Award from the American Dietetic Association.
